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NINTH EDITION.
Kx Libris
C. K. OGDEN
PiaUET.
A 2
THE LAWS
OF
:. PIQUET .
ADOPTED BY
. THE PORTLAND AND TURF CLUBS
WITH ^
A TREATISE ON THE GAME ,,
m
^CAVENDISH"
AUTHOR OF
'THE LAWS AND PRINCIPLES OF WHIST"
ETC., ETC.
NINTH EDITION.
LONDON :
THOMAS DE LA RUE & CO.
1896.
The following Clubs have given their adhesion
to the Piquet Laws adopted by the Portland
and Turf Clubs, viz. : —
Army and Navy.
Conservative.
Guards.
Junior Athenaeum.
Marlborough.
New University.
Oxford and Cambridge.
Reform.
St. James's Whist.
Union.
United University.
United Whist.
Windham.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Preface ix
THE LAWS OF PIQUET .... i
LAWS OF PIQUET A 17 CENT . . . i6
Cases and Decisions ..... 21
TREATISE ON PIQUET.
Preface 41
Historical 43
DESCRIPTION OF THE GAME.
Introductory. -83
Dealing 83
Discarding 83
Calling and Showing 86
Playing 93
Carte Blanche, Pique and Repique . . 95
Scoring 97
EXAMPLE 103
CHOUETTE PIQUET 106
CONDUCT OF THE GAME.
Shuffling 107
Dealing 108
Management of the Stock 108
Taking Up the Hand 108
Taking In 108
Calling and Showing 109
Playing the Cards . . , . . .112
Scoring 115
VIU CONTENTS.
DISCARDING.
PACE
Introductory ii6
General Rules ii6
Calculations 121
Examples 125
CALLING.
Introductory 152
Calling the Point 152
Replying to the Call of Point . . -154
Calling Sequences ...... 156
Sinking 156
Examples of Sinking . . . . . 158
PLAYING THE CARDS.
Counting the Hand 166
Habit of Adversary 167
Playing to Obtain Information . . . 168
Establishing a Suit 169
Preserving Guards and Tenaces . . . 169
Playing to Save a Capot . . . . 170
Playing to the Score 171
Examples 174
ODDS AT PIQUET.
The Show 203
Odds at Various Scores 204
Neglected Variations ...... 207
Odds Irrespective of the Tables . . . 208
PEEFACE.
At the Annual General Meeting of the
Portland Club, held February 24th, 18S1, it
was unanimously resolved that a Committee be
appointed to draw up Laws of Piquet. The
following gentlemen were nominated, and kindly
consented to serve: —
John Samuel, Esq.
{Chair77taji).
Henry Jones, Esq. I Samuel Smith, Esq.
M. Trevelyan Martin, Esq. | Robert Wheble, Esq.
The Committee having drawn up a Code,
submitted it to the Turf Club. A Committee
was appointed by the Turf Club, consisting of
the following gentlemen, who agreed to serve: —
The Hon. Henry Leeson.
Major The Hon. Oliver G. P. Montagu.
Frederic Norris, Esq.
The Turf Committee proposed a few amend-
ments ; and, after further deliberation and dis-
cussion, the two Committees sanctioned the
publication of the Laws that follow.
Portland Club,
January, 1882.
LAWS OF PIQUET.
THE LAWS OF PIQUET.
SHUFFLING.
1. Each player has a right to shuffle both his
own and his adversary's pack. The dealer has
the right of shuffling last.
2. The pack must not be shuffled below the
table, nor in such manner as to expose the
faces of any of the cards.
CUTTING.
3. A cut must consist of at least two cards, and
at least two must be left in the lower packet.
4. In cutting, the ace is highest. The player
who cuts the higher card has the choice of deal,
and the dealer has the choice of cards at the
commencement of each partie.
5. If, in cutting for deal, a player expose more
than one card, he must cut again.
6. The cut for the deal holds good, even if
the pack be incorrect.
7. If, in cutting to the dealer, or in reuniting
the separated packets, a card be exposed, or if
there be any confusion of the cards, there must
be a fresh cut.
8. When a player in cutting has once separated
the pack, he must abide by the cut.
B
THE LAWS OF PIQUET.
DEALING.
9. The dealer must deal the cards by two at a
time or by three at a time, giving the top cards
to his adversary, the next to himself, and so on,
until each player has twelve cards. The dealer
having selected the mode in which he will dis-
tribute the cards, must not change it during the
partie. The eight undealt cards (called the stock)
are to be placed face downward, in one packet,
on the table between the players.
10. If the dealer deal the cards wrongly, he
may, with the permission of his adversary, rectify
the error prior to either player having taken up
his hand.
1 1. If the elder hand find that he has a card
too many or a card too few, he has the option
of a fresh deal after looking at his hand, but
before taking up a card of the stock. If the
elder hand, having twelve cards dealt him, find,
in drawing the stock toward him after discarding,
that it contains but seven cards, he has the option
of a fresh deal, or of altering his discard.
12. If more than one card be dealt wrongly, or
if there be nine cards in the stock, there must be
a fresh deal (except as provided in Law 10).
13. If the dealer expose a card belonging to
his adversary, or to the stock, the elder hand has
the option of a fresh deal. If the dealer expose
any of his own cards, the deal stands good.
THE LAWS OF PIQUET.
14. If a faced card be found in the pack when
dealing, or in the stock when taking in, there
must be a fresh deal.
15. If the dealer deal with the wrong pack, and
the error be discovered before either player has
taken up any of his cards, there must be a fresh
deal with the right pack. If the error be not
discovered before either player has taken up any
of his cards, the deal holds good, and the packs
remain changed.
16. The players deal alternately. If a player
deal out of his turn, and either player discover
the error before taking up any of his cards, the
deal in error is void, and the right dealer deals.
But if the error be discovered too late to correct
it, the elder hand in that deal must deal twice
running with the same pack (except as provided
in Law 76), unless that or the next deal be the
last of the partie.
17. The non-dealer must collect the cards for
the ensuing deal, and must place them, properly
collected, face downward on the table.
CARTE BLANCHE.
18. Carte blanche (i.e., a hand dealt, consisting
of at least twelve cards, without king, queen, or
knave) scores first, and consequently saves a pique
or a repique. It also counts toward a pique or a
repique.
19. Carte blanche must be shown by counting
the cards, one by one, face upward on the table.
B 2
THE LAWS OF PIQUET.
20. As soon as a player is aware that he has
a carte blanche, he is bound to inform his ad-
versary, but he need not show the carte blanche
until his adversary has discarded.
DISCARDING AND TAKING IN.
21. The elder hand is entitled to discard five
cards and to take in five. He is obliged to dis-
card one card (except as provided in Law 42).
22. The younger hand is entitled to discard
three cards, and to take in three (except as pro-
vided in Laws 41 and 43). He is obliged to
discard one card (except as provided in Law 40).
23. In taking in, the cards must be taken in
order from the top of the stock.
24. After a player has taken up a card of the
stock he cannot alter his discard.
25. If a player, after having taken up a card
of the stock, take back into his hand any of his
discard, he must play with more than twelve
cards, and can reckon nothing that deal.
26. If a player, after having taken up a card
of the stock, mix any of his hand, or any card
he is entitled to take in, with his discard, he
must leave it with his discard. He must play
with less than twelve cards, and his adversary
counts as tricks all cards that cannot be played to.
27. If the elder hand, when taking in, or when
looking at cards he has left, expose or take
up any of the bottom three cards of the stock
(except as provided in Laws 41 and 43), he can
THE LAWS OF PIQUET,
reckon nothing that deal. And similarly, if the
younger hand, when taking in, expose or take
up any of the top five cards of the stock (not
being cards declared to be left by the elder
hand), he can reckon nothing that deal.
28. If the elder hand mix with his hand any
of the bottom three cards of the stock (except
as provided in Laws 41 and 43), or if, having
left any cards, he mix with his hand any of the
cards he ought to have left, he can reckon nothing
that deal ; or, the younger hand, after looking at
his hand, may elect to have a fresh deal. If he
elect to stand the deal, he can only take as
many of his cards as have not been mixed.
29. If the younger hand mix with his hand
any of the top five cards of the stock (not being
cards declared to be left by the elder hand), he
can reckon nothing that deal ; or, the elder hand,
after looking at his hand, may elect to have a
fresh deal. If he elect to stand the deal, he can
only take as many of his cards as have not been
mixed. If, however, the elder hand have taken
in some of his cards, the others remaining on the
stock, and the younger hand take up any of them,
he incurs no penalty, unless he mix any of the
cards taken up wuth his hand, when he can reckon
nothing that deal.
30. If a player, having twelve cards dealt him,
discard more cards than he takes in, he must play
with less than twelve cards, and his adversary counts
as tricks all cards that cannot be played to.
THE LAWS OF PIQUET.
31. If a player, having twelve cards dealt him,
take in more cards than he discards, but do not
take from the stock one of his adversary's cards,
he must play with more than twelve cards, and
can reckon nothing that deal.
32. If the elder hand do not take all his cards,
he must declare the number he takes or leaves
before taking up a card of the stock. If he fail
to do so, and the younger hand, on touching
the stock (but before taking up a card of it),
find that it contains more than three cards, he
is entitled to alter his discard, and to take in
the card or cards left.
33. If the elder hand leave any cards, he is
entitled to look at them ; but if he take them
up, together with the cards he is about to take
in, he can reckon nothing that deal.
34. The younger hand is entitled to take in
all the cards that are left in the stock.
35. If the younger hand leave any cards, and
take up, together with the cards he is about to
take in, more cards than he has discarded, he
can reckon nothing that deal.
36. If the younger hand leave any cards he is
entitled to see them ; but he must declare whether
he wall look at them or not, after the elder hand
has named the suit he will first lead, or has led
a card, and before playing a card himself. If
the younger hand elect to look at them, the elder
hand is also entitled to see them, after he has
named the suit he will first lead, or has led a
THE LAWS OF PIQUET.
card. If the younger hand elect not to look at
them, neither player has a right to see them.
37. If the younger hand leave any cards, and
mix them with his discard without showing them
to the elder hand, the elder hand, after leading
a card, is entitled to see his adversary's discard,
and the cards mixed with it.
38. If a player announce that he has eleven
or thirteen cards dealt him, the stock may be
counted to ascertain how many cards it contains.
39. If the elder hand, having eleven or thirteen
cards dealt him, take up a card of the stock
without announcing the error, he loses his option
of a fresh deal. He cannot alter his discard,
and he must leave at least three cards for the
younger hand. But, if the stock contain seven
cards, and the elder hand have eleven, there
must be a fresh deal.
40. If the elder hand elect to stand the deal
when he has thirteen cards, and there are eight
in the stock, he must discard one card more
than he takes in, and he must discard at least
two cards. The younger hand must discard one
less than he takes in ; but, if he only take one
card, he need not discard any.
41. If the elder hand elect to stand the deal
when he has thirteen cards, and there are seven
in the stock, he must discard one more card than
he takes in. He must discard at least two cards ;
and, if he take all his cards, he discards six, and
the younger hand can only take two cards.
8 THE LAWS OF PIQUET.
42. If the elder hand elect to stand the deal
\Yhen he has eleven cards, and there are eight
in the stock, he must discard one less than he
takes in ; but, if he only take one card, he need
not discard any. The younger hand must discard
one more than he takes in, and he must discard
at least two cards.
43. If the elder hand elect to stand the deal
when he has twelve cards, and there are seven
in the stock, he must discard the same number
of cards as he takes in ; and, if he take all his
cards, the younger hand can only take two cards.
The younger hand must discard one more than he
takes in, and he must discard at least two cards.
44. When a player subjects himself to the
penalty of reckoning nothing that deal, the adver-
sary has the option of not enforcing the penalty.
45. A player may examine his own discard at
any time.
CALLING AND SHOWING
46. The elder hand must call his point first, or he
loses the right to call it. It is sufficient to call the
number of cards of the point. The younger hand,
is not entitled to reply by inquiring what the elder
hand's point makes, unless he hold at least an equal
number of cards; and the inquiry bars him from
counting a superior number of cards for point.
47. It is not compulsory on the younger hand
to call his point first ; nor is it compulsory on
either player to call sequence next after point
THE LAWS OF PIQUET.
48. It is sufficient to call the number of cards
of a sequence if the call be good against the
cards. If not good against the cards, the elder
hand is bound to state to what card his sequence
is. And similarly, in calling a quatorze or trio,
the elder hand is bound to state the value of
the cards of which it consists, unless the call is
good against the cards.
49. If the elder hand first call a sequence
which is good against the cards, he can reckon
any sequences he holds, whether of superior
counting value to the one called or not. And
similarly, if the elder hand first call a trio or a
quatorze which is good against the cards, he can
reckon any quatorzes or trios that he holds.
50. If the elder hand call a smaller point,
sequence, quatorze, or trio than he holds, he may
correct his miscall before it has been replied to
by the younger hand.
51. If the younger hand allow a correct call
to be good or equal, when he holds better in
his hand, he may correct his reply before the
elder hand has made another call ; or, in case
there is no further call, before the elder hand
has led a card.
52. If either player call a larger point, sequence,
quatorze, or trio than he holds, and it is allowed
to be good, he may correct his miscall before
the younger hand has played to the first trick.
In case of a correction of such miscall by the
younger hand, after the elder hand has led, the
THE LAWS OF PIQUET.
elder hand is at liberty to retake the card he
led, and to play differently.
53. There is no penalty for a misnomer. It is a
misnomer, if a player call a point or sequence, when
he holds one of that counting value, but names the
suit wrongly ; or a sequence, when he holds one
of that counting value, but names its rank wrongly;
or a trio or quatorze, when he holds one, but
names its rank wrongly; provided, however, that
he could not possibly have held what he claims,
in his hand and discard taken together.
54. If a player who calls a point, sequence,
quatorze, or trio that he does not hold, and such
call is allowed to be good, do not correct his
miscall before the younger hand has played to the
first trick, he can reckon nothing that deal, except
in the case of a misnomer, or of his having
called anything which he could not possibly have
held in his hand and discard taken together, when
he is liable to no penalty. On discovery of the
error, the adversary may reckon anything he has
good, which is not barred by a correct call of the
player in error, made in addition to his miscall.
55. A player who calls anything which is
allowed to be good or equal, must show the
cards called at any time they are asked for, or
in the case of the younger hand, at any time
after the elder hand has led a card. If a player,
before he plays a card, voluntarily show anything
which he claims to be good or equal, he is liable
to no penalty for miscalling what he has shown.
THE LAWS OF PIQUET.
56. When the younger hand has played to
the first trick, neither player can reckon anything
omitted (except as provided in Law 54).
PLAYING.
57. If a player play with less than twelve
cards in hand, he is liable to no penalty. His
adversary counts as tricks all cards that cannot
be played to.
58. If a player play with more than twelve
cards in hand, he can reckon nothing that deal ;
but his cards, though not good to score, are
good to bar his adversary.
59. A card once led or played cannot be
taken up, except as provided in Law 52, and
as follows: — -
I. If a player accidentally drop a card or
cards, he may retake them.
II. If the leader lead two or more cards
consecutively without waiting for his
adversary to play, and the adversary
play too many cards, he may, on dis-
covery of the error, retake the extra
card or cards. All cards subsequently
played in error must be taken up and
played over again.
III. If a player lead out of turn, the card led
may be taken up, unless the adversary
have played to the trick, when the
error cannot be rectified.
THE LAWS OF PIQUET.
IV. If a player do not follow suit when able,
he must, when the error is detected,
retake any cards played in error, and
substitute the suit led. The players also
retake all cards played after the mistake,
and the play of the remainder of the
cards then proceeds as though no error
had been committed.
V. If a player, when asked what cards he
has in hand which have been allowed
to be good or equal, misinform his
adversary, the adversary may retake
all cards ])layed subsequently to the
misinformation, and play differently.
60. A player is entitled to examine both his
own and his adversary's tricks at any time.
SCORING.
61. Carte blanche scores ten.
62. The largest point is good. The point,
when good, scores one for each card.
63. The longest sequence is good; as between
sequences of equal length the highest is good.
Sequences, when good, score as follows : a
huitieme scores eighteen ; a septieme, seventeen ;
a sixieme, sixteen ; a quint, fifteen ; a quart, four ;
a tierce, three.
64. The highest quatorze is good. Any qua-
torze is good against a trio. As between trios,
the highest trio is good. A quatorze, when good,
scores fourteen. A trio, when good, scores three.
THE LAWS OF PIQUET. 1 3
65. In playing the cards, each player scores one
for every card he leads, or with which he wins a
trick. The winner of the last trick scores two
instead of one.
66. A player who wins more than six tricks
scores ten for the cards. If each player win six
tricks the cards are divided, and there is no score
for them. A player who wins twelve tricks wins a
capot, and scores forty for the cards instead of ten.
67. The scores, whether obtained by the elder
or younger hand, reckon in the following order : —
I. Carte blanche.
II. Point.
III. Sequences.
IV. Quatorzes and trios.
V. Points made in play.
VI. The cards.
68. A repique is obtained on the score of thirty
being made by a player, in his hand alone, by
scores that reckon in order before anything that
his adversary can count. A player obtaining a
repique adds sixty to his score.
69. A pique is obtained on the score of thirty
being made by the elder hand, in hand and play,
before his adversary has reckoned anything that
deal. A player obtaining a pique adds thirty to
his score. A capot reckons after points made in
play ; and, therefore, does not count toward a
pique.
14 THE LAWS OF PIQUET.
70. Errors in counting the hand, if proved, may
be rectified at any time before the player in error
has seen his next hand.
71. A partie consists of six deals. The partie
is won by the player who makes the higher score
in six deals. If both players score the same
number in six deals, each deals once more, when
the partie is concluded, even if there should be a
second tie.
Note. — By agreement, a partie may consist of
four deals, the score in the first and last deals
counting double. In case of a tie, each deals
once more, the scores in the extra deals count-
ing single.
72. The winner of the partie deducts the score
of the loser from his own ; and the difference,
with a hundred added, is the number of points
won.
73. If the loser fail to score a hundred, the
winner, whether his score reach a hundred or
not, adds the score of the loser to his own ; and
the sum, with a hundred added, is the number
of points won.
74. In case of a difference in the written scores,
a player's score of his own hand shall be taken as
correct
INCORRECT PACKS.
75. If a pack be discovered to be incorrect,
redundant, or imperfect, the deal in which the
discovery is made is void. All preceding deals
stand good.
THE LAWS OF PIQUET. 1 5
CHANGING CARDS.
76. Before the pack is cut to the dealer a player
may call for fresh cards at his own expense. He
must call for two new packs, of which the dealer
has the choice.
77. Torn or marked cards must be replaced, or
new packs called for at the expense of the two
players.
BYSTANDERS.
78. If a bystander call attention to any error
or oversight, and thereby affect the score, he may
be called on to pay all stakes and bets of the
player whose interest he has prejudicially affected.
^^^i^
LAWS OF PIQUET AU CENT.
The Laws of Piquet au cent, differ from those
of Piquet in the following particulars : — The
player who cuts the lower card has to deal. If
he expose more than one card in cutting, his
adversary may treat the lowest of the exposed
cards as the one cut.
The deal is by two cards at a time.
If the elder hand find that he has a card too
many or too few, he has the option of a fresh
deal before touching the stock.
If the dealer deal with the wrong pack, and
the error be discovered before the deal is com-
pleted, there must be a fresh deal with the right
pack. If not discovered before the deal is com-
pleted, the deal holds good.
If a player deal out of his turn, and discover
his error before taking up his hand, the deal in
error is void, and the right dealer deals. If not
discovered before taking up the hand, there is
no remedy.
If the younger hand have a carte blanche, he
need not declare it until his adversary has dis-
carded and touched the stock.
LAWS OF PIQUET AU CENT. 1 7
The younger hand is not obliged to discard
any card.
After a player has touched the stock he cannot
alter his discard (except as provided in Laws of
Piquet II, 32, and 38).
If the elder hand mix with his hand one of
the three bottom cards of the stock, he loses the
game ; and, similarly, if the elder hand, having
left a card or cards, mix with his hand any of the
cards he ought to have left, he loses the game.
If the younger hand take up any of the top five
cards of the stock (not being cards declared to
be left by the elder hand), he loses the game.
If the elder hand do not take all his cards,
he must declare the number he takes or leaves
before touching the stock.
If the younger hand leave any cards and elect
not to look at them, and either player should
then look at them, they must be exposed, and a
suit may be called from the offender when next
he has to lead.
If the elder hand elect to stand the deal when
he has thirteen cards, he must discard one more
card than he takes in, but he is not obliged to
take in any. He must leave at least three cards
for the younger hand.
If the elder hand elect to stand the deal when
he has eleven cards and there are eight in the
stock, he must discard one less than he takes
in, and he must discard one card. The younger
hand must discard one more than he takes in, but
c
1 8 LAWS OF PIQUET AU CENT.
he is not obliged to take in any. If the elder hand
elect to stand the deal when he has twelve cards
and there are seven in the stock, he must leave
at least three cards for the younger hand. The
younger hand must discard one more than he
takes in, but he is not obliged to take in any.
The elder hand must call the number his point
makes. It is not sufficient to call- the number of
cards of the point.
It is not sufficient to call the number of cards
of a sequence. The elder hand must state to
what card his sequence is. And, similarly, if he
call a quatorze or trio, he is bound to state the
value of the cards of which it consists.
If the elder hand call a smaller point, sequence,
quatorze or trio than he holds, or a trio when he
holds a quatorze, he must abide by his call, and
he cannot reckon anything superior, even though
his call is good against the cards. He may,
however, correct a misnomer of sequence, trio,
or quatorze, before he leads a card, and may
reckon anything of equal or inferior counting
value, provided his call in error was good against
the cards.
The elder hand having called anything which
is good or equal must show the cards called,
except in the case of quatorzes and trios. If he
lead a card without showing his call, he cannot
reckon it, and the adversary may show and
reckon his point or sequence, even though it be
equal or inferior to the one called.
LAWS OF PIQUET AW CENT. 1 9
If the elder hand show a sequence and call
an inferior one, he cannot reckon the superior
one; but the show bars the younger hand from
reckoning his sequences, if only equal or inferior
to the one shown.
The younger hand having allowed a correct call
to be good or equal, must abide by his answer.
If the younger hand disallow a call, and it be
discovered that the call of the elder hand is good
or equal, the elder hand can show and reckon
his superiority, or show his equality, notwith-
standing that he has led a card.
If the younger hand say equal or not good
to a call, and play to the first trick without
showing his superiority or equality, the elder
may show and reckon what he has called, not-
withstanding that he has led a card.
If a player call a quatorze or trio which he
does not hold, and it is allowed to be good,
and he play a card without correcting the mis-
call, he can reckon nothing that deal.
When the elder hand has led a card, or the
younger hand played to a trick, they cannot
reckon anything omitted.
By agreement, points ending in four count one
less than the number of cards.
By agreement, in playing the cards, nines,
eights, and sevens are not counting cards.
Errors in adding up, or in marking the score,
if proved, may be rectified at any time during
the game.
C2
LAWS OF PIQUET A U CENT.
A game is one hundred up. A player scoring
a hundred before his adversary has scored fifty
wins a double game.
A partie is won by a player who wins three
games out of five, a double counting as two
games.
A player has no choice of cards on com-
mencing a fresh partie.
^^t&^
PIQUET.
CASES AND DECISIONS.
Case I.
A calls four cards for point. B replies, " Equal."
A says, "Forty-one." B then finds he cannot have
a point of forty-one, but that he has a point of five
cards. A claims to score the point.
Decision. — A cannot score the point. He has
not made another call or a further call (Law 51);
he has only completed an imperfect call.
B's reply bars him from counting a superior
number of cards for point (Law 46). His point,
though not good to score, is good to save a pique
or a repique.
Case IL
A calls three kings, which B allows to be good.
It is presently discovered that A has not three
kings. B then claims to reckon four tens. Is he
entitled to do so ?
Decision. — Yes. B's admission of three kings
being good is subject to A's holding them. B,
it is true, might at once have disallowed the call ;
but, when he supposes A to have three kings, he
may desire to sink his tens, and this he may no
longer wish to do if he knows A to have a king
out.
22 PIQUET.
Case III.
A proposes a fresh deal.
B makes no reply until after A has discarded,
when he says he will give a fresh deal.
A, judging from B's hesitation that there is
not a powerful hand against him, states that he
does not now wish for a fresh deal. B insists
that as he has never refused the offer, it is still
open.
Decision. — The law does not contemplate the
offer of a fresh deal. A fresh deal is a matter
of agreement between the players. In this case,
though B has not, in words, refused a fresh deal,
he has allowed A to carry the game a step
further by discarding. This is tantamount to a
refusal.
Case IV.
A calls a point headed by ace, and two tierce
majors in other suits, and leads a card, but
says nothing about aces. Can B reckon three
knaves ?
Decision. — B cannot reckon three knaves. A
has declared three aces by implication, and can
reckon anything he has omitted before B plays
to the first trick (Law 56).. B's course is to play a
card, saying nothing about knaves, when A loses
the score for the aces.
If, however, A is under a rubicon, and B calls
knaves, if A objects he must reckon his aces.
PIQUET. 23
Case V.
Elder hand directs the younger to discard for
carte blanche. The younger having discarded
three cards, the elder then shows his hand, and
says, " I leave a card." Can the younger hand
alter his discard after having seen his adversary's
cards ?
Decision. — Yes. The elder hand should state
that he leaves a card before showing his carte
blanche.
Case VI.
Elder hand discards, and takes up a card of the
stock (Law 24).
Younger hand then finds he has a carte blanche,
and proposes to show it (Law 19).
Can the elder hand alter his discard, as he has
not been informed of the carte blanche? (Law 20.)
If not, can the younger hand reckon the carte
blanche, as he has not informed the elder hand in
time for him to discard for a carte blanche ?
Decisiofi. — The elder hand cannot alter his
discard. The younger hand can reckon the carte
blanche.
A^ote. — This is a matter of etiquette rather than
of law. The younger hand is bound to inform the
elder as soon as he is aware he has a carte blanche
(Law 20). If he is not aware that he has a carte
blanche before the elder has taken up a card of the
stock, there is no help for it.
24 PIQUET.
The younger hand cannot be required to do an
impossibility. Of course, boiia fides is assumed on
the part of the younger hand, />., that he has not
unnecessarily delayed his declaration.
The old law was that the younger hand need not
inform the elder of a carte blanche. The
distinction between the duties of the elder and
younger hands in this respect, was no doubt drawn
in order to preclude the occurrence of such a case
as the present.
C.\SE VII.
A calls three queens. B says, "Which queen
do you not reckon ? " A replies, " Queen of
diamonds," and then reckons queens. B says,
"Three queens are not good; I have three kings."
Is B entitled to score his kings?
Decision. — No. Asking which queen is out is
equivalent to admitting three queens to be good.
B, by ascertaining which queen is out, obtains
information to which he is only entitled in the
case of A's scoring the queens.
C.\SE VIII.
A calls three kings. B says, "Good. Which
king do you not reckon?" A replies, "King of
diamonds." On playing the cards it is discovered
that A has the king of diamonds in hand, and
that he has put out the king of hearts.
PIQUET. 25
B claims that A can score nothing that hand.
A contends that it is only a misnomer, for which
he cannot be punished.
Decisiofi. — B's claim is correct. It is true that
A actually held three kings ; but, as the reply
of the elder hand is only a substitute for showing
the kings, he has defined his claim to be for
three kings, including one which he has not got.
He is therefore liable to the penalty for scoring
what he does not hold.
Case IX.
A calls four knaves (holding only three). B
replies, "Good." A then says, "I beg your
pardon, I have only three knaves." B replies,
"Not good." B might have held four aces, but,
having discarded an ace, has only three.
A thus discovers before he leads a card that
B has an ace out, and so obtains information to
which he is not entitled. Has B any remedy?
Decision. — B has no remedy. It is one of those
accidents that will occasionally happen which card
laws cannot reach.
Case X.
A (elder hand) has a quint major, and such
other cards that he will probably put B to a card.
A places the quint major on the table and says,
" Play five cards."
26 PIQUET.
B accidentally plays six cards.
At the end of the hand, when A plays his
last card, it is found that B has no card to play
to it.
B claims to play the hand over again (Law 59,
par. II.)
A urges that B was distinctly informed how many
cards he had to play ; that he cannot benefit by
his own mistake ; and that, now he has seen all the
cards, he knows which card to keep in order to
save the capot.
Decision. — The hand must be played over again,
B retaking one of the cards he played to the quint
major.
A might have protected himself by counting the
cards originally played by B. If he is too careless
to do so, he must take the consequences.
Case XL
A (elder hand), having a quint major in clubs
and the seven, places the quint major on the
table together with the seven of spades, and says,
"Play six cards."
B plays five cards, and then takes the seven of
spades with the eight. A then says, " I made a
mistake; I intended to have played the seven of
clubs." Can A rectify his error?
Decision. — A is too late after B has played his
sixth card. But prior to that A can rectify his
error.
PIQUET. 2 7
Case XIL
A (elder hand), has a tierce to a knave in clubs,
good against the cards. He might also have had
a tierce to a queen in hearts, but he has discarded
from that suit. He calls a point in diamonds, and
a tierce, but does not declare in what suit it is,
nor to what card it is (Law 48). B (younger hand),
plays on the supposition that the tierce is in hearts,
and in consequence loses the cards. B then claims
to play the cards again, on the ground that he has
been misinformed (Law 59, par. V.), or, at least,
that he has not been sufficiently informed.
Decision. — B has not been misinformed, and has
no right to have the cards played again. He
might have protected himself by asking A to show
the tierce (Law 55), or, what amounts to the same
thing, by asking to what card the tierce is.
Note. — As a matter of etiquette, it is usual
among piquet players to volunteer information when
there may be a doubt as to the nature of the claim.
Thus the younger hand might have the point, good
or equal, in more than one suit. After the elder
hand has led a card, it would be in accordance
with custom for him to say " In hearts," or what-
ever the suit may be ; or, if he has a high card
of his point out that might influence the play (his
point nevertheless being good or equal), to show
the cards.
In case no mention is made of the suit, the
claim is generally understood, among players, to
28 PIQUET.
refer to the highest or best combination that can
be held, in the case of the tierces, first given,
to the tierce to a queen. If A and B are in
the habit of playing on that tacit understanding,
B has just cause of complaint, and A should
endeavour to repair the injury inflicted on B, the
simplest course probably being not to demur to
B's request to play the cards again.
Similar observations apply to quatorzes and
trios. Thus the elder hand has point and quart,
both good, and might also have three kings and
three tens, both good against the cards, but has
put out a king. He should not call his hand
thus : — " Five and four are nine, and three are
twelve." He should say, "and three tens are
twelve."
Case XHI.
B (younger hand) accidentally takes up a card
less than he discards. The mistake is discovered
when the hand has been partly played out. B
claims to take in the card he left on the table,
the card in question not having been mixed with
his discard.
Decision. — B can take up the card he left on
the table, unless he has announced that he will
leave a card, when he must play with eleven cards.
If B has not renounced in the suit to which the
card belongs, the hand proceeds in the usual way.
If he has renounced, Law 59, par. IV., comes
into operation.
PIQUET. 29
Case XIV.
The younger hand (B) discards and takes up
the bottom three cards of the stock before the
elder hand (A) has taken in. A then says, " I
leave a card." What is the consequence?
Decision. — B having taken up a card of the
stock cannot alter his discard ; and, as in taking
in he is obliged to take the cards in order from
the top of the stock, including cards left by the
elder hand, he must take the card left by A,
must play with thirteen cards, and can reckon
nothing that deal.
Case XV.
The elder hand holds king, knave, ten, nine,
eight, seven of diamonds. He calls six cards
which are not good, and a quint minor which
is good.
During the play of the cards, the elder throws
ten, nine, eight, seven of diamonds. The younger
hand then says, " How many diamonds ?" The
elder replies, " Two." The younger, supposing
that the reply is only as regards the quint, plays
accordingly and loses the cards thereby. He then
claims to play the end of the hand again under
Law 59, par. V.
Decision. — The question can only be asked with
regard to cards reckoned for or called as equal.
The reply, therefore, can only be with regard
30 PIQUET.
to those cards. The younger hand has been
misinformed, and can claim to play the end of
the hand again.
Note. — This decision has been much disputed.
Compare Case XVI.
Case XVI.
In the contrary case, of a player's replying
" One " (or whatever the number may be), when
he has more which he has not declared, the
adversary must take the reply to be in respect
of cards reckoned as good or declared as equal.
For example : — B (younger hand), who has dis-
carded at least one spade, remains with three
cards in hand, viz., ace, queen of hearts, and
king of spades. He has not declared any point,
aces, or queens, but has reckoned a quart minor
in hearts. A (elder hand) has ace, queen of
spades, and king of hearts. Before leading, he
says, "How many hearts?" B replies, "None."
No one disputes that B is justified in this, and
that his reply is understood, by all piquet players,
to mean, "None that I have declared."
Note. — In both this and the previous case the
question put is irregular. It should strictly take
this form, " How many of your quint ? " or, " How
many of your quart ? " as the case may be. Or,
the request may be, " Show me anything you
have declared" (Law 55). But as the irregularity
is permitted by custom, it is assumed that the
PIQUET. 31
player who has to answer will frame his reply
wath reference only to cards called as good or
declared as equal. This consideration guides the
decision in Case XV.
Case XVII.
A has thirteen cards in his hand. He does not
notice it, but discards five cards and takes in five.
After he has taken in it is discovered that he has
in his discard a card belonging to the undealt
pack. A claims a fresh deal under Law 75.
Decisio7i. — There is no proof that when the pack
was dealt it was redundant. The surplus card may
have got into A's hand or discard after the deal
was completed. A is liable to the penalty for play-
ing with thirteen cards, and can reckon nothing
that deal.
Case XVIII.
The facts are as in the previous case ; but A
keeps in his hand the card belonging to the un-
dealt pack instead of discarding it.
Decisio7i. — In this case, if A has not played the
surplus card he may return it to the undealt pack,
and there is no penalty, unless A has used this
card in scoring anything that is allowed to be
good, or in showing anything that is allowed to
be equal, and has afterwards led a card. He is
then liable to the penalty for an unfounded claim,
32 PIQUET.
and can reckon nothing that deal) subject how-
ever to the possibihty of his having held what he
claims, in his hand and discard taken together, as
provided in Law 54).
If the surplus card has been played prior to the
discovery of the error, the hands must be taken
up and played over again, the surplus card being
first removed.
Case XIX.
A plays with thirteen cards ; B with twelve.
B wins the twelfth trick, and scores two for it.
A objects that the twelfth trick is not the last
trick (Law 65), and that his thirteenth card,
though not good to score, is good to bar the
adversary (Law 58).
Decision. — The word "last," in Law 65, pre-
supposes that each player has twelve cards. B
is entitled to score two for the twelfth trick.
Case XX.
A says, " Discard for carte blanche." While B
is considering what he will put out, A places his
discard face downwards on the table, and takes up
some cards of the stock. Can A then show his
carte blanche?
Decision. — Yes, provided he has not mixed any
of the stock with his hand. He must show his
hand and his discard separately, as, having taken
PIQUET. 33
up a card of the stock, he must not retake any
card of his discard.
Case XXI.
In continuation of the former case, B, on seeing
A take up a card of the stock, says, "You have
not shown your carte blanche." A repHes, " No
more I have," reUnquishes the stock, mixes his
discard with his hand, and is about to show the
carte blanche, when B objects, that A having
taken up a card of the stock, and then retaken
his discard, must play with seventeen cards, and
can reckon nothing that deal.
Decision. — B's contention is so far correct that
A can reckon nothing after the carte blanche,
which (so long as he has not mixed any of the
stock with his hand) he is still at liberty to show
and reckon. This score accrues before the play
of the hand commences, and before any cards
are taken in. Consequently, the law which bars
a player from reckoning anything if he plays with
too many cards does not apply to a carte blanche.
Case XXII.
It is the last hand of a partie. A (elder hand)
is sixty-two. B (younger hand) is ninety-two.
A holds ace, king, queen, knave, nine of spades;
king, knave of hearts ; knave of clubs ; and ace,
queen, knave, ten of diamonds.
D
34 PIQUET.
He has discarded eight, seven of hearts; eight,
seven of clubs ; and seven of diamonds.
B holds ten of spades ; ace, queen, ten, nine
of hearts ; ace, king, queen, ten, nine of clubs ;
and king, nine, eight of diamonds (thirteen
cards).
By mistake, he has only discarded two cards,
viz., eight, seven of spades ; and he has taken up
together the three cards left in the stock. As he
cannot alter his discard (Law 24), he is obliged to
play with thirteen cards, and can reckon nothing
that deal (Law 35).
The elder hand calls five cards, making fifty.
The point is equal. The elder then calls a quart
major, a tierce to a queen, and four knaves, good
for twenty-one, and leads five spades. To these
the younger hand plays ten of spades ; nine, ten,
queen of hearts, and eight of diamonds.
It matters not now what the elder hand leads.
As the cards happen to lie, he scores most by
leading king of hearts. B wins with the ace, and
plays five clubs and divides the cards.
The scores are, A, 9 1 ; B (who reckons nothing),
92. B wins a rubicon (Law 73) of 283 points.
Now if B had played with twelve cards, he
would have lost a rubicon. This is easily proved
by taking from B's hand the card of least import-
ance to him, say the eight of diamonds. A leads
five spades, as before. It is immaterial what B
plays. A must win at least the last two tricks,
and the cards, and scores forty.
PIQUET. 35
The scores are, A, 102 ; B, 98 (at most); but as
probably B has seen he cannot save the rubicon,
it may be taken that he has let A count thirteen in
play, when the score will be, A, 106; B, 92. A
wins a rubicon of 298 points.
Hence B profits, by his own blunder, to the
amount of 581 points. The example is taken
from actual play.
Similar examples could be furnished as to the
call of a player, with thirteen cards, barring a
pique or a repique, and as to the extra card
saving a capot.
The penalty of scoring nothing that hand, when
a player has too many cards, may not only be no
penalty at all, but may give the player in fault an
overwhelming advantage. That this should be
possible is a serious blemish in the game; and it
is suggested that it should be provided against
by future legislators.
It is the fashion to say that, in the long run,
the habitually careless player will lose more than
he will gain, by playing with the wrong number
of cards. This appears to the Author to amount
merely to a lame excuse for an inadequate law.
<?(>-
132
A TREATISE ON PIOUET
"CAVENDISH."
THE MEMBERS
THE PORTLAND CLUB
^uniiBt on fiqnd
CORDIALLY DEDICATED.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
Since Hoyle's Treatise on Piquet was published
in 1744, no original work on Piquet has appeared
in the English language (so far as the author has
been able to discover), though Hoyle has several
times been edited with more or less success.
The issue of an authorized code of Laws *
affords a good occasion for the publication of a
fresh treatise on the game. Although the plan
of it is original, the author has made free use of
the examples contained in Hoyle's valuable worL
The author has also (through the great kindness
of Mr. Clay,) been able to avail himself of that
accomplished player's judgment and experience.
For the assistance rendered to him by Mr. Clay,
the author takes this opportunity of expressing
his warmest thanks.
Portland Club,
May, 1873.
* Of Piquet an cent, by the Portland Club, in 1873
(and, see p. 81).
PIQUET.
HISTORICAL.
Numerous theories have been broached respect-
ing the origin and etymology of Piquet; but no
positive conclusions have been arrived at.
First as to the origin of the game. By some
writers, of indifferent weight, it is referred to the
period of the reign of Charles VI. (1380-1422).
Haydn ("Dictionary of Dates"), giving Mez^ray
as his authority, states that Piquet was the first
known game on the cards and that it was invented
by Joquemin for the amusement of Charles VI. of
France. There is no such name as Joquemin
to be found in any of the biographies. The person
referred to is no doubt Jacquemin Gringonneur,
to whom is erroneously ascribed the invention
of playing cards in the reign of Charles VI.
Some authorities are of opinion that Jacquemin
was the name of a cardmaker, or gringonneur of
that period, gringonneur signifying a maker of
grangons {certus tesserarum ludus. Du Cange,
44 PIQUET.
Glossary, Supplement, Vol. ii., col. 651). Pcrsius
(^'■Houge ct Noir. The Academicians of 1823."
London. 1823.), says, "Of all the games at cards
Piquet is the most ancient. + * * Its origin
is somewhat singular ; a great Ballet executed at
the Court of Charles VI. suggested the idea of it."
He then describes the ballet. His description
is identical with that of the interlude in Le Triomphe
des Da/ties, printed in the Theatre Francois, and
danced some three hundred years later. He pro-
bably confuses one with the other.
It is now well ascertained that Piquet is by no
means the most ancient of card games. Paul
Boiteau d'Ambly ("Z(?i- Cartes a jouer et la Carto-
mancie." Paris. 1854.), rebuts the idea that Piquet
could have been played in the time of Charles VI.
He writes, " Oest au jeu de tarots que jouait
Charles VI. * * + JSfi le piquet ni, a plus
forte raison le whist 11^ existaient. * * * II
}iy a de connu que le tarot."
The latest authorities are of opinion that tarot
cards {i.e., emblematic cards combined with nume-
rals), were first used in Italy towards the end of the
fourteenth century, and that soon afterwards the
tarot game was subjected to the elimination of the
emblematic series, leaving the numeral series to
work by itself It is, therefore, most unlikely that
cards, with which Piquet could be played, were
known in France as early as the time of Charles VI.
It is next attempted to fix the invention of Piquet
on the period of Charles VII. (1422-1461); and,
PIQUET. 45
as this date is commonly upheld, especially by
French writers, it is advisable to give a detailed
account of their views.
In the " Memoir e sur VOrigine du Jeu de Piquet
trouve dans VHisioire de France, sous le Regfte de
Charles VII", by Le Pere Daniel {Journal de
Trevoux. May, 1720.), Piquet is credited with
being a symbolic, allegorical, military, political, and
historical game. From the names of the personages
on the court cards of early French packs, and from
^the marks of the suits, the Pbre believed he had
made out the origin of Piquet, which he supposed
to have been devised about 1430.
Chatto, a careful and sound critic (" Facts and
Speculations on the Origin and History of Play-
ing Cards." London. 1848.), speaks of Daniel's
theories as "mere gratuitous conceits," and as
the seethings of the father's imagination.
Saint-Foix (^'- Essais Historiques sur Parish
Maestricht. 1778.), patronises the ballet theory.
Referring to the interlude in Le Trioniphe des Dames,
he adds, ^'■/e crois que cet Intermede n^etoit pas
nouveau, &= quHl n'etoii que Pesquisse d^un grand
Ballet execute d la Cour de Charles VII, <S>^ sur
lequel on eut idee du jeu du Piquet, qui certainement
nefut if?iagine que vers la Jifi du rlg7ie de ce Prince"
Singer (" Researches into the History of Playing
Cards." London. 18 16.), follows Saint-Foix, but
with great caution. He observes, " The game of
Piquet appears to have been invented in the reign
of Charles VH. It has been said that its invention
46 PIQUET.
took rise from a Ballet danced at the court of that
Monarch ; but it seems quite as probable, that this
game furnished the device for the Ballet, as it has
done at a later period."
Leber (" Etudes hisioriques sur les Cartes a jouer."
Paris. 1842.), agrees with Daniel in assigning a
French origin to Piquet, in the time of Charles VII.
In Boiteau's " Cartes d, jouer" there is a good
deal of speculation as to the origin of Piquet.
" Rien de certain ne peut etf'e avatice au sujet de ces
commencements des cartes aux couleurs fran^aises et
du jeu de piquet qui semble ctre ne en mime temps
qu'elles. Le nom mtme du jeu ne s'explique pas
facilement. Quoi qu'il en soit, les cartes aux couleurs
coeur^ carreau, pique et trefle existent sous Charles VII
et ne paraissent pas avoir tte connues sous Charles VI.
De plus, la creation du jeu de piquet semble se rat-
tacher par plus d'un lien au regne de Charles VII.
Maintena?it, Est-il possible d^admettre que tout d
coup aient invejites ce jeu et ces cartes ? * * *
Dafis les cent annees qui vont de 1330 h 1430 il a
dH s'introduire au milieu des cartes antiques plus
d'une vwdijicatio7i qui nous echappe. + + *
CUst Vopinioti de quelques personfies, qu'il a existe
un jeu intermediaire entre le tarot meridional ou
allemand et le piquet francais. De ce jeu interme-
diaire il n'y a pas de traces, comme il n^y en a pas du
travail qui a fait naitre le piquet. II ne faut pas
done dire, comme M. Paul Lacroix, que le jeu de
piquet est du a la Hire [the famous Stephen de
Vignoles, a devoted adherent of Charles VII.] ou ct.
PIQUET. 47
un sen'ant d'armes de ce capitaine. * * * I!
ne fatd pas tion plus accepter les pretendues expli-
cations des erudits du sihcle dernier, qui ne sont,
en general, que d'assez mauvaises conjectures. Ce
sera dans les fetes de Chinon, la ou Charles VII
perdait si gaiement son royaume, ce sera encore h
Paris, aprh la victoire [1436] et dans la joie du
triomphe, que la cour galante et militaire du roi
sauve par Jeanne d'Arc aura imagine et opere la
reforme des cartes. * * * La France con-
naisait le tarot dans la seconde nioitie du XI V^ siecle.
* * * La connaissance duj'eu s'etant repandue,
elle s'appliqua d approprier les cartes a son genie.
La combinaison dite du jeu de piquet est nee alors.
Cest une simplification des elemens anciens. Les
couleurs et le nombre des cartes, aussi bien que la
creation des regies fondamentales du jeu de piquet,
datent de Charles VII et probablement du milieu de
son rtgne, qui est aussi le milieu du XV^ siecle.
Jusqu'd ce moment, jusqu^au tnilieu du XV ^ siecle,
Ihistoire des cartes est enveloppee d'obscurites. La
creation du jeu frangais est la chose importante dans
cette his to ire."
Boiteau admits that nothing certain can be ad-
vanced on the subject of the origin of Piquet, and
that just at the period of which he treats, the
history of cards is wrapped in obscurity. After
these admissions one may safely consign his theory
to the region of guesses.
Dr. Willshire ("A descriptive Catalogue of
Playing and other Cards in the British Museum."
48 PIQUET.
London. 1876.), the most recent, and probably
the best, authority, remarks that, "There is not
satisfactory evidence * to show the date at
which piquet was first played. * * + En-
deavours have been made to associate the origin of
this game with the epoch of Charles VII, but a
decisive solution of the question cannot be ob-
tained."
The supposition of Grosley i^'- Mhnoires histo-
riques et critiq^ies pour V Histoire de Troyes." 1774.),
that Piquet was invented by a mathematician of
Troyes, named Picquet, who lived in the reign of
Louis XIII. (1610-1643), and the statement of
Strutt ("Sports and Pastimes." London. 1801.),
that Piquet was introduced into France in the
middle of the seventeenth century, may be met by
reciting the fact that, about a century earlier,
Rabelais (1535) includes Piquet in the list of
games played by Gargantua. Boiteau believes
that the Piquet mentioned by Rabelais was a
different game; but this original notion requires
confirmation.
Complex card games, like Piquet, are not in-
vented by, nor for, individuals. They grow out of
earlier and simpler games, until at last, through
the survival of the fittest modifications, a highly
developed game is evolved. As Boiteau well
observes, " // est impossible de dire, prenant zm jeu
quelconque, quHl a ete invente en telle annee par un
tel. Cest tantot Vun et tantot Vautre qui s'avise
PIQUET. 49
d'aj Older quelques regies a tm vieux jeu, d'en changer
le nom ; des at?iis adoptent ; quelques societes a la
suite, et twila une Inveniioti." It is therefore to the
older card games that one should look for the
origin of Piquet. The opinion of the latest writers
on the history of playing cards is that France
received her cards, and the games played with
them, from Spain and Germany, and that these
countries obtained them from Italy. If so, an
examination of the early games and cards of Italy,
Spain and Germany may throw some light on the
question.
The ancient name of the point at Piquet was
ronfle, and la Ronfle is one of the Gargantuan
games mentioned by Rabelais (1535). There was
also an Italian game called Ronfa, but it is not
known how it was played Ron/a, by some, is
said to mean "ruff"; very likely this may be so,
and the word ruffing may also mean discarding and
taking in, as it did at the game of Ruff and
Honours, an ancestor of whist. Berni (" Capitolo
del Gioco della Pritniera col Co}?imento di Messer
Pietropaulo da San Chirico. Stampata in Roma
nel Anno M.D.XXVI."), includes Ronfa in a list of
eleven card games, played at that time (1526).
In one place, the facetious commentator, who
styles himself as above, thus refers to the invention
of Ronfa. (The quotation is taken from Singer's
translation.) '"We have but little certainty who
was the inventor, or who, in the first instance de-
veloped the game, nor is that little confirmed by
E
50 PIQUET.
authority to be relied on. Some say it was Lorenzo
do Medici the Magnificent, and relate I know not
what tale of an Abbot. * * * Others will
have it that Ferdinand of Naples, who so distin-
guished himself, was the inventor Others Matthias,
King of Hungary ; many Queen Isabella ; some
the Grand Seneschal. * * * We shall leave
the research to those who are desirous of knowing
how many barrels of wine Acestes gave to ^neas ;
or what was the name of Anchises' nurse ; and the
like curiosities, worse than the Egg and Chicken. ' "
Since ronjie was the point, and ronfa meant
" ruff", and ruffing meant discarding and taking in
from a stock, it is hardly too much to assume that
Ronfa was a game in which discarding, taking in,
and calling a point, were prominent features.
Ronfa or la Ronfle may have been a simple form of
Piquet ; or, the similarity of the words ronfa, ronfle
and ruff may be mere coincidences.
When Italian cards, and the games played with
them, travelled to Spain, a game called Cienios was
played in that country. Singer says, "As this
game was of Spanish original, and has some ap-
pearance of having resembled Piquet + * *
may not the French have adopted it, with some
alterations, merely changing its name ? " Boiteau
confirms the idea of the adoption thus : — " Le cent
{piquet). Le piquet s'appelle encore aujourd'hui
le cent ou la grande brisque dans la Charente."
Singer assumes that the game originated in
Spain. It is more probable that Cientos was a
PIQUET. 5 1
modified Italian game, possibly Rottfa, with a
change of name.
From Spain or France the game came to Eng-
land, where it was called Cent.
There is no similar record of a game like
Ronfa or Cientos having reached Germany, when
Italian cards journeyed to that part of Europe,
The material leading to the supposition that such
a game was played in Germany, whence it is geo-
graphically and historically probable it travelled
to France, is very slender. What little there is
depends on the amount of reliance to be placed
on Merlin {'■'■ Origijie des Cartes a jotier." Paris.
1869.). The following quotation is taken from
Willshire : —
'"We desired,'" "writes M. Merlin," '"to
be able to point out in a satisfactory manner
what were the names and structure of the [early]
German games, but have not met with informa-
tion precise enough on the subject. We must be
contented with communicating a few remarks with
which the examination of the cards has furnished
us.
" ' For figures we meet with kings, superior and
inferior valets [the superior knave, obermatin, is
the equivalent of the queen in French and English
packs]. * * +
" ' The point cards are the ten, nine, eight,
seven, six and two, a composition resembling our
own Piquet [packs], in which the ace has been
displaced by the two. This structure is * + *
E2
52 PIQUET.
that of the Saxon game Sclnvertcr Karte — cartes
ct Vepcc.
'"What appears to confirm our conjecture as
to the analogy of piqicet with this jeii a I'epee, is
the fact that in the modern cards manufactured
at Vienna for playing the German game, * + *
the six is suppressed, as it is in the French piquet
[pack] since the end of the seventeenth cen-
tury.'"
It seems not improbable that an Italian game,
bearing a likeness to Piquet, grew into Cientos in
Spain and into le Cent in France; and, that a
game played with sword packs, in which the
number and value of the cards was the same as
in piquet packs, was known in Germany; and that
a modification of this Sword Game (to coin a
name for it), afterwards found a home in France
under the title of Picquet (the old spelling). But
how, or when, the most advanced form of the
older games finally established its supremacy as
Piquet, history does not relate.
Next as to the etymology of Piquet.
"The new World of Words" collected and pub-
lished by E. P.[hillips]," (London. Ed. 1696.),
states that Piquet is "perhaps so called as a
diminutive of Pique, as it were a small Contest
or Combat." The first edition is dated 1658;
but Piquet does not occur in it, nor in the editions
of 1662 and 1671.
Skeat ("Etymological Dictionary." Oxford.
PIQUET. 53
1882.), remarks on E. P.'s proposed derivation,
"This is ingenious and perhaps true."
According to the Abbd Bullet (" Recherches sur
les Cartes a Jouer." Lyon. i757-)j the word
Piquet is derived from Celtic. Fiquo, he says,
in Celtic signifies to choose, and pic and repic
(the old spelling of pique and repique), have the
sense of doubled and redoubled. The old spelling
of pique was picq and of repique repicq, but that is
a trifle. The ancient name of the point, ronfle.
Bullet compounds of two Celtic words — rum, a
gathering together, and bell (in composition, fell),
a combat ; hence rumfell, 7'umjle, ronfle, an assem-
blage of cards of the same suit.
" Pick " probably does belong to the Celtic
languages, but there is no consequent reason for
associating it with the game of Piquet. Skeat
says of Celtic, "This is a particularly slippery
subject to deal with," and "we must take care
not to multiply the number [of borrowed Celtic
words] unduly." Prior to the appearance of his
^^ Recherches ^^ the Abb^ was engaged on a Celtic
dictionary, and he refers many words of doubtful
etymology to Celtic. The coincidences he points
out are generally regarded as more curious than
valuable.
Grosley's fable that the game was invented by
a man named Picquet would hardly be worth
notice, but that it has been repeated (guardedly,
it is true), by others. Persius says, "It appears
very probable that this game bears the name of
54 PIQUET.
its inventor." And Littrd has, "The game is
supposed to have been named after its inventor."
It has already been pointed out that games like
Piquet are not invented by any one person.
In the absence of a better etymology, the sug-
gestion that the name of the game may have been
derived from the spade suit, is submitted for con-
sideration.
In the oldest known playing cards, combined
with tarots, the suit of spades was represented by
bona fide swords, and was named spade in Italian,
espadas in Spanish. The sword also obtained, as
a suit mark, in cards used in Germany ; but the
Germans soon altered it into laub or griin^ the
mark being shaped like a plum-leaf.
In numeral cards, unconnected with tarots, the
suit of spades was called picche in Italian, picas in
Spanish, as early as the time of Charles VII. of
France.
The French appear to have adopted the German
symbol, griin, and to have called it pique, after the
Italian name. Leber, in a sentence translated by
Chatto, says, '"In the southern parts of Europe
the French Pique is La Picca or La Spada. ' "
Merlin asserts that a game was played in Ger-
many with sword cards, which in their composition
resemble piquet packs ; and conjectures that the
French Piquet was analogous to this nameless
game.
The suggestion, offered with hesitation, is that
Piquet may be a developed form of the analogous
PIQUET. 55
German game, and that, being played with pique
cards in France, it may there consequently have
obtained the name of Piquet.
Neither Cent nor Piquet are mentioned by
Shakespeare. And it is somewhat remarkable
that though Cent frequently occurs in English
books of the Shakespearian period, Piquet, so
far as is known, never does. In Nares' ("Glossary
of Words in Works of English Authors of the Time
of Shakespeare "), Cent and many other games find
a place, but Piquet does not appear. From this it
may be concluded that Cent was played in Eng-
land until about the middle of the seventeenth
century, when the word Cent went out of use,
and was replaced by the word Piquet.
That the two games were practically identical
will presently be made evident. The change from
Cent to Piquet, in England, may therefore be
regarded as one of name only, and may perhaps
be thus accounted for. From the time of the
marriage of Mary with Philip of Spain (1554),
the English equivalent of the Spanish name of
the game was in vogue. In 1625, Charles I.
married the daughter of Henry IV. of France.
When a French Princess came on the scene the
French name. Piquet, was contemporaneously sub-
stituted for the Spanish name.
Cent was sometimes corrupted into Saunt, Saint,
Cente, Sent, and Sant ; and the word occasionally
has the prefix "Mount." So far as is known, the
56 PIQUET.
meaning of this prefix has never been explained.
A few quotations from authors of the period (1532
to 1656), may prove of interest.
The earliest known reference to Cent is in "A
Manifest Detection of the most vyle and detestable
Use of Diceplay, and other Practises lyke the same;
A Myrour very necessary for all younge Gentilman
and others sodenly enabled by worldly AbiJdance,
to loke in. Newly set forth for theire Behoufe.",
a very rare tract, printed in 1532, and said to be
by Gilbert Walker. The Percy Society's reprint
(1850.), is quoted: —
" ' After the table was removed, in came one
of the waiters with a fair silver bowl, full of dice
and cards. * * * Then each man choose his
game.'"
The writer goes on to say, " ' Because I alleged
ignorance [of dice] * * * we fell to Saunt,
five games a crown.' " This looks as though the
stake was on the old-fashioned partie, best of
five games.
Another early reference is to be met with in
Turberville's "Book of Faulconrie" (1575.) = —
"At coses or at Saunt to sit,
Or set their rest at prime."
In the "Book of Howshold Charges and other
Paiments laid out by the L. [ord] North and his
Commandement" (Nichol's "Progresses of Queen
Elizabeth"), there are several entries of losses at
PIQUET. 5 7
play. In the entry, 1578, May 15 to 17, there
occurs, "Lost at Saint, xv.s."
This is interesting, as showing that at that time
Cent was a fashionable game, and played at court.
Lord North used frequently to play with the Queen,
and there are several entries of money lost to her,
but the names of the games are omitted.
Northbrooke calls the game Cente. In "A
Treatise, wherein Dicing, Daucing, Vaine Plaies or
Enterludes are reprooved ". (London. 1577.), the
author thus addresses the reader : —
" What is a man now a dales if he knows not
fashions ? * * * To plaie their twentie, fortie,
or 100./. at Gardes, Dice, &c.. Post, Cente, Gleke
or such other games : if he cannot thus do he is
called a miser, a wretch, a lobbe, a cloune, and one
that knoweth no fellowship nor fashions, and less
honestie."
The "honestie" is not apparent in all cases. In
" No-body and Some-body ", an anonymous play
(circa 1592.), Lord Sicophant confers with Some-
body, the stage villain, as to introducing " Deceit-
full Cards " at Court, the guilt to be made to rest
with No-body. During the conversation, Sicophant
shows cards prepared for cheating at various games,
and, (/. 1533), says, "These are for saunt."
This is no mere effort of imagination on the part
of the playwright. The use of " Deceitfull Cards "
at Saunt, about this time, was unfortunately a fact.
They are mentioned in "Dice Play"; and the
action of Baxter vers. Woodyard and others ",
58 PIQUET.
brought in 1605, was for cheating at this game
with prejiared cards, as the following extract from
Moore's " Reports " (1688.) shows : —
" Accofi sur le case sur deceit enter eux pj-actise p
luy disceavcr al Cards, al tin game le Mountsant,
per inducer d'zin Carde appel le Biimcarde per que
ils devise que le pi' [plaintiff] 71' averoit que iiels
games que ils plerofit, &' joyndront ascun foils a lour
pleasure, per quel cosojiage 6^ deceite, colore ludendi,
ils defraud le pV de 16/. les def pleade non culp',
6^ I e Jury eux trove culp' &• assesse damages."
In Minsheu's "Pleasant and delightfull Dialogues,
Spanish and English" (London. 1599.), the game
is also called Mount Sant. In the third Dialogue
between " five gentlemen friendes," Rodricke, Sir
Lorenzo and Mendoza converse thus: —
" R. Here are the cards. What shall we play at?
*»♦«»*
L. At Mount Sant.
M. It makes my head to be in a swovme to be alwaies
counting."
In "A Woman kilde with Kindnesse," a play,
by Thomas Hey wood, acted before the year 1604,
Cent is called Saint : " Husband, shall we play at
Saint?" and in Gervas Markham's "Famous
or Noble Curtezan" (1609.), Cent is called Mount-
cent: —
"Were it Mount-cent, primero, or at chesse,
I wan with most, and lost still with the lesse."
PIQUET. 59
Brewer ("Lingua, or the Combat of the Tongue
and five Senses." 1607.), reverts to the older spell-
ing Saunt. " As for Memory, he's a false hearted
fellow, he always deceives them ; they respect not
him, except it be to play a Game at Chests, Pri-
mero, Saunt, Maw, or such like."
In "The Dumb Knight" (1608.), by Lewis
Machin, there is a direct statement that the name
of the game was derived from a hundred. The
play also contains, in punning allusions to the love
affairs of two of the characters, important materials
for establishing the great similarity of Cent to
Piquet.
" Enter aloft to cards the Queen and Phylocles.
Q. Come, my Lord, take your place, here are cards, and
here are my crowns.
P. And here are mine ; at what game will your Majesty
play?
Q. At Mount-Saint.
P. A royal game, and worthy of the name
And meetest even for Saints to exercise ;
Sure it was of a woman's first invention.
Q. It is not Saint, but Cent, taken from hundreds.
P. True, for 'mongst millions hardly is found one saint.
Q. Indeed you may allow a double game.
But come, lift for the dealing: it is my chance to deal.
P. An action most, most proper to your sex.
Q. What are you, my Lord ?
P. Your Highness' servant, but misfortune's slave.
Q. Your game, I mean.
P. Nothing in show, yet somewhat in account :
Madam, I am blank.
6o PIQUET.
Q. You are a double game, and I am no less.
There's an hundred, and all cards made but one knave.
******
What's your game now ?
P. Four king's, as I imagine.
Q. Nay, I have two, yet one doth me little good.
P. Indeed, mine are two queens, and one I'll throw away.
♦ ♦»»♦•
P. Can you decard, madam ?
Q. Hardly, but I must do hurt."
Here the mention of showing, of the blank
(carte blanche), of double games (counted in the
old fashioned partie), of four kings, of throwing
away, and of the decard (discard) prove conclu-
sively the likeness of the two games.
In Taylor's "Motto" (1621.), Cent, under the
spelling Sant, is enumerated among the games at
which the prodigal " flings his money free with
carelessnesse ": —
" Ruffe, Slam, Trump, Nody, Whisk, Hole, Sant, New Cut."
In the "Annalia Dubrensia. Upon the yerely
celebration of Mr. Robert Dover's Olimpick games
upon Cotswold Hills" (1636.), a very rare book of
which a copy is preserved in the Grenville Library,
contributed to by thirty-two authors of the period,
including Michael Drayton, Ben Jonson, Trussell,
and others of less note, the game is spelt Cent.
In the eulogium on Dover by William Denny
this passage occurs : —
"Cent for those Gentrj', who their states have marr'd.
That Game befitts them, for they must discard."
PIQUET. 6 1
This again shows that discarding was part of the
game.
Sir WiUiam Davenant, Poet Laureate after Ben
Jonson, in " The Witts, a Comedy present'd at the
Private House in Black Fryers" (1636.), spells the
game Sent : —
" While their glad sons are left seven for their chance
At hazard : hundred and all made at Sent."
The inference is, as before, that " Sent " was played
a hundred up.
The following quotation from "The Discovery
of a most Exquisite Jewel, found in the Kennel
of Worcester Streets, the Day after the Fight "
(165 1.), by Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty,
shows that the name of the game was sometimes
anglicised into Hundred : " Verily I think they
make use of Kings as we do of card Kings in
playing at the Hundred ; any one whereof, if there
be appearance of a better game without him (and
that the exchange of him for another incoming
card is likely to conduce more for drawing the
stake), is by good gamesters without any cere-
mony discarded."
If further evidence is required that the game
of Cent was so called from its being played a
hundred up, it may be obtained from a little
book, published in 1656, entitled "The Scholer's
Practicall Cards," by F. Jackson, M.A. It is
chiefly occupied with instructions how to spell,
62 PIQUET.
write, cypher, and cast accounts, by means of
cards. Several games are mentioned in it, and
among them Saunt which the author explains by
centum, a hundred.
Probably the earliest mention of Piquet, in print,
is by Rabelais (1535). As already stated, he in-
cludes it in the list of games played by Gargantua ;
and it is to be noted that le Cefit and la Ronfie are
also to be found there.
It is not until after the lapse of rather more
than a hundred years that Piquet appears with
any frequency in French books, or at all in
English books. It will be convenient first to
take a few of the most interesting French refer-
ences of the seventeenth century, and then to
review Piquet in England from that time to the
present.
The earliest work on Piquet extant is, probably,
"Z^ Royal lev dv Piqvet plaisant 6^ recreatif.
Reueu et corrige en cette derniere Edition, pour le
Contentevient de ceux qui font Professio7i d'en
observer les Regies." {Rouefi. 1647.). This is the
earliest edition to be met with in the British
Museum. The book was translated into English
in 1 65 1, with the following title : — " The Royall and
delightfull game of Picquet written in French and
now rendred into English out of the last French
edition. London. Printed for J. Martin and
J. Ridley, and are to be sold at the Castle in
Fleet-street nere Ram alley."
PIQUET. 6^
The following is the translation of the preface : —
" There comming to my hands, not long since, a small
Treatise, concerning the game of PICQUET, and having
perused the same ; I have since thought fit to communicate
it to the World ; as being a game approved of everywhere,
especially among the Gentry, and persons of Honour. It
is a kind of Divertion, so sweet, and pleasing, as that it
makes the houres slide away insensibly : it easeth the Gouty
person ; cleares up the melancholicke spirit ; and refresheth
the pensive Lover. These considerations are of sufficient
force to put in any one a desire to the Play : But that which
should most stir you up to the purchasing of this Booke, is,
that you have here laid downe before you, an absolute, and
exact account of the whole Game, and have all the dif-
ficulties, that may arise therein, fully resolved. If you there-
fore but observe the Rules and Maximes here delivered ; you
shall avoid all the quarrells, which usually arise amongst
Gamesters, for want of being thoroughly informed in the
Game ; and shall preserve mutuall Society, which is the
Bond that unites all things. Be sure, therefore, that you
purchase this Booke : For in so doing, you shall not only
much advantage your selves, but me also."
According to this treatise the game was played
with thirty-six cards, the sixes remaining in the
pack ; the set or number up was a matter of
agreement, but was usually fixed at a hundred,
it being " in the choice of the Gamesters to make
it more or lesse." In cutting for deal, more than
one card must be "lifted," as the top one might be
known by the back. In this remark is seen the
reason for several of the severe rules which for-
merly obtained at Piquet, such, for instance, as
allowing no change of discard after touching —
64 PIQUET.
not looking at, but touching — the stock. In the
days when cards were not so well manufactured
as now, it is easy to understand that a pack might
frequently contain marked cards, and, therefore, no
one was allowed even to touch the stock without
penalty.
In cutting for deal, " whichsoever of the two
dips the least card " deals. The deal was either
by two at a time, or by three or four at a time,
to each player, at the option of the dealer; but
he was bound to continue dealing through the
game as he began, or, at least, to announce,
before the cut, that he would change his method.
The same object is apparent here as before, viz.,
that no advantage should be taken of a marked
card. Twelve cards were given to each player,
and twelve were left in the stock, of which the
elder hand might take eight, the younger, four;
each player being bound to discard one card.
With thirty-six cards it was possible for both
players to hold a carte blanche, and this case is
provided for, the two annulling each other. The
point was called the ruffe, in the French Treatise,
ronfle. The description of the way of counting
the point explains why points ending in a four
counted one less than the number of cards. The
point was not formerly reckoned by cards but by
tens {dixaines) ; and " For every Ten that he can
reckon, he is to set up One. As, for example,
for Thirty, he is to reckon Three, for Fourty,
Foure: and so upward. Where, by the way, it is
PIQUET. 65
to be noted, that you are to reckon as much for
Thirty five as for Forty; and as much for Forty
five as for Fifty: and so of the rest: but for thirty
six, thirty seven. Thirty eight, or Thirty nine, you
are to reckon no more than for Thirty five: in
like manner as for Thirty one. Thirty two, Thirty
three or Thirty four, you are to reckon no more
than for Thirty." When the game came to be
played with thirty-two cards, points ending in a
two or in a three could no longer be held, but
those ending in a four could, and, the old method
of reckoning being continued, it seemed as though
a point ending in a four was an arbitrary exception
to the rule of reckoning one for each card.
A curious expression is used in respect of the
highest sequence making good all lower ones in
the same hand, notwithstanding the adversary may
hold intermediate ones. The best sequence is
said to " drown " all the sequences held by the
opponent. Cards under a ten did not reckon in
play. It seems that in Paris it was permitted
to amend incorrect calls of point or sequence,
but not in Provence or Languedoc, where " the
First word is alwaies to stand."
A few years later was published "Z<2 Maison
Academique" (Paris. 1654.), in which appears "Zi?
lev dv Picqvef^ as then played. The general
directions for play are almost identical with those
in '■'■Le Royal lev dv FiqveL"
That Piquet was much played in France about
this time is made evident by the publication of
F
66 PIQUET.
these books, by its repeated mention in Molibre's
plays, and by its having been chosen as the title of
the ballet, already referred to.
'■'■ Les Fijcheux" by Moli^re (1661.), contains an
interesting Piquet hand, which deserves more than
a passing notice. The description, freely trans-
lated, runs thus: —
"Console me, Marquis, for the extraordinary partie at
Piquet I lost yesterday against St. Bouvain, a man to whom
I could deal and give fifteen points. It is a maddening
coup which crushes me, and which makes me wish all
players at the devil ; — a coup enough to make a man go
and hang himself. I only wanted two points; he required
a pique. I dealt; he proposed a fresh deal. I, having
pretty good cards in all suits, refused. He takes six cards.
Now observe my bad luck : I carry ace of clubs ; ace, king,
knave, ten, eight of hearts; and throw out (as I considered
it best to keep my point), king, queen of diamonds, and
queen, ten of spades. I took in the queen to my point,
which made me a quint major. To my amazement, my
adversary showed the ace and a sixieme minor in diamonds,
the suit of which I had discarded king and queen. But, as
he required a pique, I was not alarmed, expecting to make
at least two points in play. In addition to his seven dia-
monds he had four spades, and, playing them, he put me to
a card, for I did not know which of my aces to keep. I
thought it best to throw the ace of hearts, but he had dis-
carded all his four clubs, and capoted me with the six of
hearts ! I was so vexed I could not say a word. Confound
it ! why do I have such frightful luck?"
Supplying the unnamed cards, St. Bouvain's
hand would be knave, ten, nine, eight, seven,
six of diamonds; king, queen, nine, seven of
PIQUET. 67
clubs ; and nine, seven of hearts. He discards
the four clubs and the two hearts ; he takes in
ace of diamonds ; six of hearts ; and ace, king,
knave, eight of spades.
Alcippe (his adversary), deals himself king,
queen of diamonds ; queen, ten of spades ; ace,
king, knave, ten, eight of hearts ; and ace, knave,
eight of clubs. He discards the diamonds, spades,
and knave, eight of clubs ; he takes in nine, seven,
six of spades ; queen of hearts ; and ten, six of
clubs.
St. Bouvain's point and sixieme are good for
twenty-three ; he plays the diamonds and spades,
which include six counting cards, making him
twenty-nine ; and there is one card to be played,
Alcippe reckons nothing, and has to play eleven
cards. He must keep either ace of hearts or ace
of clubs. He elects to keep the club. St. Bouvain
wins the last trick with the six of hearts (this is a
non-counting card; but, if it wins, it reckons one
for the last trick), and piques and capots his
opponent.
Moliere has skilfully heaped up the various
small worries that may annoy an irritable player
during a hand. The score is one source of an-
noyance : — St. Bouvain wants a pique, Alcippe
only wants two points, and has such cards that,
though a pique is not impossible it is in the
highest degree improbable. As Fielding ("Tom
Jones ") truly remarks, " The gamester who loses
a party at Piquet by a single point, laments his
F 2
68 PIQUET.
bad luck ten times as much as he who never came
within a prospect of the game." Again, Alcippe
has the chance offered him of a fresh deal, which
implies that his adversary has very bad cards.
Tiie fresh deal is refused, and, notwithstanding,
St. Bouvain wins. Then the elder hand, having a
right to take eight cards, only takes six, which is
a disagreeable surprise after proposing a fresh
deal, as Alcippe would naturally wonder how it
could be that, notwithstanding the bad hand,
St. Bouvain can afford to leave two cards ; and,
lastly, Alcippe is put to a card, which is by no
means pleasant at any time, but is most unpleasant
of all to a player with two aces, who only requires
one trick to win the partie, and who loses it if he
keeps the wrong one.
Alcippe, though he boasts his superior play, and
declares that he lost by bad luck, really makes two
mistakes which lose him the game. First, he does
not discard to the score. His game, when wanting
to score only two, is to protect himself from a
capot by throwing out his point. If he discards
ace, knave, ten, eight of hearts, and knave, eight
of clubs, he is morally certain to win. Next, he
plays badly in throwing the ace of hearts. It is
evident that, in order to save the game, St. Bou-
vain's last card must be a non- counting card.
Now, he may hold any one of three non-counting
hearts, or either of two non-counting clubs. This
being so, it is three to two in favour of keeping the
heart
PIQUET. 69
In 1676 was produced "Z^ Trioinphe des Dames"
with the ballet interlude, about which so much has
been written by Piquet historians. As it has often
been stated that this play was never printed, it may
be as well to give the title and publisher's name in
full :—
"Le Trio?nphe des Dames. Comcdic nicslce d' Omat?ienis
avec Explication ou Combat h la Barriere et de toides les
Devises, par 77i.[oinas] Corneille, reprcse^itee par la Trouppe
du Roy. Etallie au Fourboii7-g S. Germain. Paris. Jean
Ribon. 1676."
The '■'■Theatre Francois'''' describes the ballet
thus : —
"■En j6'j6, on 7-epresettta stir le Thedtre de V Hotel
Guhiegaud tine Comedie de Thomas Corneille, en cinq
actes, intitulee le Triomphe des Dames, qui n'a point He
impritnee, ^f dont le Ballet du Jeu de Piquet etoit un des
Intermedes. * * * Les Rois, les Dames &> les Valets,
apri's avoir forme, par leurs danses, des tierces et des qua-
torzes ; aprh s'etre rattgJs, ious les noirs d\i7i cote, dr' les
rouges de V autre, fi^ii^-cnt par im contre-danse, ou toutes les
couleurs etoient melees confuscment, et sans suite J'''
^'■La Maison Academigue" after several editions,
gave place to the more comprehensive '^Academic
Universelle des Jeiix." This work, variously edited
and augmented, was the French authority on games
for about a century and a half. The later editions
are mainly reprints of the previous ones ; and,
probably owing to the book's not keeping pace
with the times, it gradually lost its prestige.
Modern ^'Academies " there are still ; but they
70 PIQUET.
are no more like the older ones than modern
"Hoyles" are like the "Short Treatises" of
Hoyle.
The Academies, properly so called, nearly all
agree on two points. They give Piquet the first
or second place among card games ; and they
derive a good deal of their Piquet inspiration
from "Ze? Royal lev dv Fiqvet."
The French Acadcmie was translated into Eng-
lish about 176S. The title of the book is : — "The
Academy of Play ; Containing a full Description
of; and the Laws of Play, Now observed in the
several Academies of Paris, Relative to The fol-
lowing Games, viz. [Here follow the names of
thirty-three card games.] From the French of the
Abb^ Bellecour. London : Printed for F. Newbery,
the Corner of St. PatiVs Church-Yard, Ludgate-
Street"
The preface says, "The Game of Piquet is
* * * here treated in a manner more clear,
and more conformable to the present Practice, as
in all the Rules here given, we have followed the
Determinations of the most able Players."
The " Determinations of the most able Players "
enable the reader to trace the origin of the proverb
that " Piquet is not a game of surprise," a saying
not always true of the game. It refers to changing
the suit when playing the cards : —
"You have to observe that as there is no advantage to be
taken by surprize, at the Game of Piquet he that in
playing, changes his Suit, is to name the Suit in which he
PIQUET. 7 1
then leads ; in default of which, the other Party, supposing
that he still continues to lead in the former Suit, has a right
to take up the Card that he has played, even tho' it should
be in the Suit in which he then leads."
And this is the penalty, when " surprises " of a
more serious nature are detected : —
' ' Qui 7-eprend des cartes dans son ecart, est surpris a en
changer, ou fait (Tautres tours de frip07t, perd la partie, ct
doit etre chasse comme tin coquin avec qui oti ne doit plus
jouer. La peine de cet article ne saurait etre assez forte,
puisque c'est pour punir unfripon avere.^^
This is quaintly translated as follows : —
"He who takes in any part of his Discard, or is detected
in changing his Cards, or in any other kind of fraud ; loses
the party, and ought to be drove out as a cheat ; with whom
no one ought to play.
The punishment here cannot be sufficiently severe, as it is
intended to chastise a 7nanifest scoundrel."
The only points of importance in which the
Abbe's "Academy" differs from "The Royall and
delightfull game of Picquet ", (the same alterations
being present in the corresponding French editions),
are that thirty-two cards are substituted for thirty-
six, and consequently that the number taken after
discarding is five instead of eight elder hand, and
three instead of four younger hand: that dealing by
four cards at a time is no longer permitted ; that
the ronfle or ruffe is called the point ; that some-
times every card of the point is allowed to reckon;
72 PIQUET.
and that the counting in play of cards below a ten
is optional.
The above changes in the mode of play were
introduced about the end of the seventeenth
century.
Piquet, according to popular belief, was imported
into England from France.
"Vat have you oi gi-and plaisi7- in dis towne,
Vidout it come from France, dat vill go down ?
Picquet, basset; your vin, your dress, your dance ;
'Tis all you see, tout a la mode de Fra7ice."
— Farquhar.
Epilogue to " Sir Harry Wildair" (1701).
But, as has been seen, the game first came to
this country as Cent ; and there is nothing to show
whether it was of French or of Spanish importation.
Be this as it may. Cent was deposed in England,
in favour of Piquet, about the middle of the seven-
teenth century. One of the earliest writers to refer
to Piquet under its new name is John Hall, in his
" Horse Vacivse " (1646). He says: — -"For Cardes,
the Philologil of them is not for an essay ; a man's
fancy would be sum'd up at Cribbidge ; Gleeke re-
quires a vigilant memory : Maw, a pregnant agility ;
Picket a various invention ; Primero, a dexterous
kinde of rashness."
In 1659, a curious pamphlet (now rare) was
published, entitled, — " Shufling, Cutting, and Deal-
ing, in A Game at Pickquet : being Acted from the
PIQUET. 73
Year, 1653. to 1658. By O. P. [Oliver Protector]
And others; With great Applause." It represents
Cromwell, after the Long Parliament, playing cards
with some old officers, friends, and opponents, the
players expressing their political sentiments through
allusions to the game of Piquet : — ■
"Oliver P. I am like to have a good beginning on't :
I have thrown out all my best Cards, and got none but
a Company of Wretched ones; so I may very well be
capetted [capoted]."
One of the characters says, " I am nothing but
a Ruff" {j-onfle or point). Another, "I got more
the last Game when I plaid Cent : for I had a
hundred, and all made."
A similar squib was published in '■^ MehiJiges
Historiques de Bois Jourdain ", some half century
later. It alludes to the state of France on the
accession of Louis XV, The following is a speci-
men : —
"Le Jeu de Piquet, 1716. Les Exiles — Un qiiatorze
de roi [Louis XIV.] avait gate 7iotre jeu ; une quititc de roi
[Louis XV.] le retid plus beau."
In "The Wild Gallant" (1662.), Dryden's first
acted play, there is drawn the singular picture of a
man playing Piquet against an imaginary adversary,
who however arrives in time to pick up the stakes : —
"A Table set with Cards upon it.
Trice. * * ♦ Ay, it shall be he: Jack Loveby, what
think'st thou of a game at Piquet, we two hand to fist? You
74 PIQUET.
and I will play one single game for ten pieces : 'Tis deep
stake, Jack, but 'tis all one between us two : You shall deal,
Jack : — Who I, Mr. Justice? That's a good one ; you must
give me use for your hand then; that's six i' the hundred.
[The advantage of the deal was formerly estimated at about
seven points in a hundred.] — Come, lift, lift ; — mine's a ten;
Mr. Justice : — Mine's a king ; oh, ho, Jack, you deal. I
have the advantage of this, i' faith, if I can keep it. {fie
deals twelve apiece, two by two, and looks on his own cards. )
I take seven, and look on this — Now for you. Jack Loveby.
Enter Loveby, behind.
Lov. How's this ? Am I the man he fights with ?
Trice. I'll do you right. Jack; As I am an honest man,
you must discard this ; There's no other way : If you were
my own brother, I could do no better for you. — Zounds, the
rogue has a quint-major, and three aces younger hand. —
{Looks 071 the other cards.) Stay ; What am I for the point ?
But bare forty, and he fifty-one : fifteen, and five for the
point, twenty, and three by aces, twenty-three ; Well, I am
to play first : one, twenty-three ; two, twenty-three ; three,
twenty-three ; four, twenty-three ; now I must play into his
hand : five : now you take it. Jack ; — -five, twenty-four,
twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-
nine, thirty and the cards forty.
Lov. \aside'\ Hitherto it goes well on my side.
Trice. Now I deal : How many do you take. Jack ? All.
Then I am gone : what a rise is here ? Fourteen by aces,
and a sixieme-major ; I am gone, without looking into my
cards. — [Takes up aft ace and bites it.) Ay, I thought so:
If ever man play'd with such cursed fortune, I'll be hanged,
and all for want of this damned ace. — There's your ten pieces,
you rooking, beggarly rascal as you are.
Loveby enters.
Lov. What occasion have I given you for these words.
Sir? Rook and Rascal! I am no more rascal than your-
self, Sir !
Trice. How's this? How's this?
PIQUET. 75
Lov. And though for this time I put it up because I am a
winner — [Snatches the gold. )
Trice. What a devil dost thou put up ? Not my gold, I
hope, Jack ?
Lov. By your favour, but I do ; and 'twas won fairly : a
sixieme, and fourteen aces, by your own confession."
In " Flora's Vagaries," a comedy printed in 1670,
Piquet is again introduced : —
"Grimani. Well, lay by your work, we will have a game
at cards. Giacomo, go fetch some cards and counters,
picket you play well at.
Otrante [his daughter]. I am no Gamester, but if you
please to play —
******
Gri. Sit down, come, lift, I deal. How many take you in?
Otr. I take seven, Sir.
Gri. Take them and I will have all the rest. So now,
what say you to the point ?
Otr. a little game, some three-and-fifty.
Gri. 'Tis good, hunch out.
Otr. Quart major.
Gri. And that too.
**♦«*»
Otr. Three kings.
Gri. No, that's not good.
Otr. Nine, and there's ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen.
Gri. I had forgot my aces.
******
Otr. You have lost you aces, fourteen."
The action of the play then causes the game
to stop.
It is interesting to observe that the score was
marked with counters, and that the mode of play
was as now, except that the pack was composed
76 PIQUET.
of thirty-six cards, otherwise Otrante could not
take seven cards, and could not have a point of
fifty-three, as with a thirty-two card pack this point
cannot be made. (See pp. 63-65, for an account
of the old mode of playing.)
The occurrence of Piquet in dramatic and other
writings of this jDcriod is very common.
About this time appeared, "Wit's Interpreter: the
English Parnassus." The third edition, with many
additions, by "J. C", is dated 1671. One part con-
taining " Games and Sports now us'd at this day
among the Gentry of England, (Sec", has instruc-
tions for playing "The Ingenious Game called
Picket." Picket is also included among the card
games in Cotton's "Compleat Gamester" (1674).
In both cases " The Royall and delightfuU game of
Picquet " has been plagiarised. In the edition of
"The Compleat Gamester" of 1709 a note is added,
that "These were the Rules of the Game when
it was play'd with the sixes, but however the Rules
hold for the Game as it is play'd at present without
the Sixes, only when it is play'd without the Sixes
the Elder Hand is to take Five of the Eight Cards
in the Stock." This fixes the time when the altera-
tion of the pack became generally recognised in
England.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century,
card-playing was the rage in all parts of Europe.
The games most in favour, with people of fashion
in England, were Ombre, Piquet and Basset
(now called Faro). In "The Confederacy" by
PIQUET. 77
Vanbrugh (1705), Clarissa exclaims, "We'll play
at Ombre, Piquet, Basset, and so forth, and close
the evening with a handsome supper and ball."
Other games are referred to, but not so frequently.
In "Sir Harry Wildair," (1701), for example, the
following conversation occurs : —
"Sir Harry. The capot at Piquet, the paroli at Basset,
and then Ombre ! Who can resist the charms of Matadores ?
Lady Lurewell. Ay, Sir Harry ; and then the sept le
va ! Quinze le va ! Treiite le va ! [Basset].
Sir H. Right, right. Madam !
Lady Lure. Then the nine of diamonds at Comet [Pope
Joan], three fives at Cribbage, and Pam [Knave of Clubs] in
Lanterloo [Loo], Sir Harry !
Sir H. Ay, Madam, these are charms indeed. Then the
pleasure of picking your husband's pocket over night to play
at Basset next day."
About this date Piquet is sometimes spelt
Piquette, as though the idea had gained ground
that the word is a diminutive oi piq7ie (see p. 52).
The first volume of Thomas D'Urfey's celebrated
poems, " Wit and Mirth : or Pills to purge Melan-
choly," (1719.), contains "A Poole at Piquette, The
Words made and set to a Tune, by Mr. D'Urfey,
made at Ramsbury Mannor."
" Within an Arbour of delight,
As sweet as Bowers Elisian
Where famous Sidmy us'd to write
I lately had a Vision :
Methought beneath a Golden State,
The Turns of Chance obeying,
Six of the World's most noted great,
At Piquette were a playing.
78 PIQUET.
"The first two were the brave Eugene
With Vcndosvie Battle waging ;
The next a Nymph who to be Queen,
Her Mounsieur was Engaging ;
The Fleur de Lis Old Maintcnon
With sanctified Carcro ;
And next above the scarlet Don,
Queen Anne, and Gallick Nero.
"The Game between the Martial braves,
Was held in diff'rent Cases ;
The French man got Quatorze of Knaves,
But Prince Eugene four Aces :
And tho' the 'tothers eldest Hand
Gave Hopes to make a Jest on 't,
Yet now the Point who soonest gain'd
Could only get the best on 't.
"From them I turned mine Eyes to see
The Church man and the Lady,
And found her pleas'd to high degree
Her Fortune had been steady,
The Saints that cram'd the Spanish Purse
She hop'd would all oblige her.
For he had but a little Teise
When she produc'd Quint-Major.
"And now betwixt the King and Queen
An Empire was depending ;
Within whose mighty Game was seen
The Art of State-contending :
The Mounsieur had three Kings to win't
And was o'er Europe roaming,
But her full Point Quatorze and Quint
Won all and left him foaming."
Again, in Pope's " Moral Essays in four Epistles,"
(1733.), in the first of which the character of Lord
Godolphin is sketched, it is stated that
" His pride is in Piquette,
Newmarket fame, and judgment in a bet."
PIQUET. 79
In 1 7 19 Richard Seymour published "The
Court Gamester : or full and easy Instructions
for + * * Ombre, Picquet, and the Royal Game
of Chess." Much of the Piquet is derived from
the original source ; but there are considerable
additions, and quaint remarks peculiar to this
treatise which deserve quotation. Speaking of
tierces and other sequences, Seymour observes,
"These Terms may sound a little like conjuring,
to Persons that don't understand them ; but they
are only the Fretich Terms that we ijiake use of,
because we have not English whereby to express
the same thing in one Word." Further on, after
explaining the annulling of minor sequences by
major ones, he adds, " Thus, among Cards as
well as Men, the Great still overcome the Small."
The directions are repeated in seven editions
up to 1750; in the fifth edition it is stated that
"Piquet is now become so common that even
the meanest people have become instructed, and
let into all the Tricks and Secrets of it." This,
however, is doubtful, for though Piquet was much
played in the clubs, and in fashionable society,
in the middle of the eighteenth century, it never
appears, in this country, to have been the game
of the masses, as it is in France.
Apropos of club play, about this time, a story
is told in Walpole's " Letters " of Selwyn's walking
into White's, in November, 1752, where he found
James Jeffries playing Piquet with Sir Edward
Falkener, who was at that time Joint Postmaster-
8o PIQUET.
General. " Oh," quoth Sehvyn, " he is now-
robbing the mail ! "
The " Court Gamester " was eventually amal-
gamated with the "Compleat Gamester"; and,
in the eighth edition (1754) a number of Hoyle's
rules and cases are plagiarised.
Bath was the head quarters of fashionable card-
playing about the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury. It is related of a notorious gambler, named
Lookup, that he won large sums of money of Lord
Chesterfield, chiefly at Piquet, and that, with his
winnings, he built some houses at Bath, which he
jocularly called " Chesterfield Row." Lookup died
in 1770, with cards in his hand, while playing the
game of humbug, or two-handed whist. Foote,
on hearing this, said, " Lookup is humbugged out
of the world at last."
The Bath play continued until about the year
1S40, a coterie of distinguished Piquet players
constantly meeting there during the early part of
the present century ; and the club play continued
at White's and Graham's. When the Bath play
declined, and Graham's club was broken up, Piquet
pretty well died out in England, almost the only
place where it was regularly played being the Port-
land Club. Recently Piquet has revived ; and it
is now (1890) so much played in England, that it
may be called a popular game.
The last work on the game which calls for notice
here is Hoyle's " Short Treatise on the Game of
Piquet." (1744.) This is original, and not, like
PIQUET. O I
the others, taken from the older books. Though
somewhat obscure in style, it contains much valu-
able instruction, and also the laws of the game,
which were the only authority in this country until
the code of the Portland Club was published in
1873. Hoyle's laws were twenty-six in number,
and were all observed by strict players. Editors
of Hoyle, however, subsequent to 1800, took the
liberty of adding nine other laws on their own
account. These added laws had no weight, and,
in several instances, the practice of club players
was opposed to them.
Hoyle does not fix the number the game is
to be played up, probably because it was still a
matter of agreement in his day. His editors,
however, in copies published after Hoyle's death,
say the game is a hundred-and-one up. Piquet
au cent is played a hundred-and-one up in some
parts of France at the present day (1873); but
the practice in this country, and in Paris when
Piquet mi cent is played, is to make the game a
hundred up. Piquet ati cent is now (1885), how-
ever, almost entirely superseded by the Rubicon
Game. The introduction of this form of Piquet
necessitated the redrawing of the Portland code.
In this task the Turf Club assisted ; and, since
1882, the joint code of these two clubs has ruled
the game among English players.
It is somewhat remarkable that so fine a game
as Piquet should have been almost entirely neg-
lected by writers on games from 1744 to 1873
G
82 PIQUET.
(nearly a hundred-and-thirty years), except by
editors of Iloyle. This is the more singular, as
it is generally admitted that Hoyle's laws and
directions for play, though excellent as far as
they go, are by no means complete. In the
following pages an attempt has been made to
supplement Hoyle's work, by giving a full de-
scription of the modern game (Piquet au cent
being now seldom played), and by enlarging
more thoroughly on the various points of play.
^^<^^
DESCRIPTION OF THE OAME.
INTRODUCTORY.
The Game of Piquet is played by two persons,
with a pack of thirty-two cards — the sixes, fives,
fours, threes, and twos, being thrown out from a
complete pack. It is convenient to have two
packs, each being used alternately.
DEALING.
The players cut for deal. The highest has
choice. The order of the cards, both in cutting,
and in calling and playing, is ace (highest), king,
queen, knave, ten, nine, eight, seven (lowest).
The pack is then cut by the non-dealer, or
elder hand, to the dealer, or younger hand, who
re-unites the packets and gives the top two cards
to his adversary, the next two to himself, and so
on, dealing two cards at a time to each player,
until they have twelve cards a-piece. Or, the deal
may be by three at a time. The dealer pjlaces
the undealt cards (called the stock), eight in
number, face downwards on the table between the
players. {See also Laws 1-17, pp. 1-3.)
DISCARDING.
The players then look at their hands and pro-
ceed to discard, i.e., to put out such cards as
G2
84 PIQUET.
they deem advisable (but see carte blanche, p. 95).
They then take in an equivalent number of cards
from the stock. The elder hand has the privilege
of thus exchanging five of his cards. He may
take any less number, but he must exchange one.
He separates his discard from his hand, places it
aside, face downwards on the table, and takes
from the top of the stock the number of cards
discarded.
If the elder hand takes all his five cards he
leaves three for the younger hand. If he discards
less than five cards (leaving more than three in
the stock) he announces the fact by saying, " I
only take four," — or three, or less, as the case
may be ; or, " I leave a card," — or two, or more
cards, as the case may be.
When the elder hand discards less than five
cards he is entitled to look at the cards he
leaves. For example : If he discards four cards,
he takes the top four cards of the stock, and
looks at the fifth, the one left on the top of the
stock after he has taken his four. If he discards
but three cards, he may similarly look at the two
cards left, and so on. He returns the cards thus
looked at to the top of the stock without showing
them to his adversary.
The younger hand has the privilege of discard-
ing three cards. He is obliged to discard one.
If the elder hand has left any of his cards,
the younger hand may take all that remain in
the stock, discarding an equal number. Thus,
PIQUET. 85
if the elder hand has left one card, the younger
may take four, viz., the one left and his own
three. He separates his discard from his hand,
and lays it aside as explained in respect of the
elder hand; and, in a similar way, takes his cards
from the stock after the elder hand has taken in.
Whether the elder hand takes all his cards or
not, the younger hand must take his cards from
the top of the stock, including any card or cards
that may have been left by the elder hand. For
instance, the elder hand takes four cards; the
younger hand only takes two, and leaves two
cards. He must take the card left by the elder
hand and the top card of the other three, and
must leave the bottom two.
If the younger hand leaves any cards, he
announces the number left. He has a right to
look at cards he leaves, at any time before he
plays to the first trick, but not afterwards. He
must declare whether he will look at them or not
as soon as the elder hand has named the suit he
will first lead (which he generally does by leading
a card). If the younger hand looks at them, or
at any of them, he must also show all that are left
to the elder hand, the elder hand first naming the
suit he will lead. If the younger hand elects not
to look at the cards left, the elder cannot see them.
Cards left untaken, and not looked at, must
be kept separate from the hands and discards.
Each player may look at his own discard at
any time during the play of the hand ; but he
86 PIQUET.
must keep his discard separate from his other
cards. {See also Laws 21-45, PP- 4~8.)
CALLING AND SHOWING.
The discarding and taking in being over, the
players next announce or ea// certain combina-
tions of the cards in hand, and, if good, score for
them. These combinations are point, sequences,
and quatorzes and trios.
The point must be announced first (Law 46).
It is scored by the player who calls the suit of
greatest number. If each player's best suit con-
tains an equal number of cards, the point is then
scored by the one who calls the suit of greatest
strength, according to the following way of valuing
it : — The ace is valued at eleven, each of the court
cards at ten a-piece, and the other cards at the
number of pips on each.
The elder hand calls his point, thus : — Suppose
his best suit to consist of five cards. He would
call, "Five cards." If the younger hand has no
suit of equal or greater number, he replies, "Good."
The elder hand then names the suit, saying, " In
spades," or as the case may be, and counts one
for each card, saying, " Five."
If the point called by the elder hand happens
to be equal in number to the best suit of his
adversary, the younger hand says, "Equal." The
elder then announces the value of his cards.
Thus : — -The elder's point is ace, king, knave,
nine, eight ; he would say, " Forty - eight," or,
PIQUET. 87
" Making eight." If the younger hand's five cards
make less than forty-eight, he replies, " Good," and
the elder then names the suit. If the younger
hand's point makes exactly forty-eight, he says,
"Equal." The elder hand then names the suit
in which his equality is, but does not count any-
thing for it.
If the younger hand's five cards make more
than forty-eight, he says, " Not good," and the
elder hand does not name the suit he called.
If the younger hand has a point consisting of a
greater number of cards than the one called by
his adversary, he says, " Not good," and the elder
does not name the suit he called.
When the younger hand's point is equal, he
names the suit after the elder has finished calling
his hand and has led a card, but he does not
count anything for point. If the younger hand's
point is good, he names the suit and reckons
one for each card of the point as soon as the
elder has led a card.
A player calling a point which is smaller than
his best suit, can correct his miscall before the
younger hand has answered, " Not good," or,
" Equal."
It is usual, but not compulsory, to call se-
quences next after point ; quatorze or trio may
be called before sequence, without prejudice
to a subsequent call of sequence.
The elder hand should first call his best sequence.
Any three or more cards of the same suit held in
88
PIQUET.
hand in tlie order given at p. S3 constitute a se-
quence. Sequences, and the amounts reckoned
for them when good, are as under : —
A sequence of eight cards
,, seven
,, six
,, five
,, four
,, three
named a huitieme) scores eighteen.
septieme)
sixieme )
quint )
quart )
tierce )
seventeen.
sixteen.
fifteen.
four.
three.
It will be observed that tierces and quarts reckon
one for each card ; and that higher sequences
reckon one for each card, with ten added.
Sequences are further defined by name accord-
ing to the card which heads them. Thus, a
sequence of king, queen, knave, is named a tierce
to a king ; ace, king, queen, is called a tierce
major; and so on for other sequences headed
by an ace. A sequence of nine, eight, seven,
is called a tierce minor ; and so on for other
sequences of the lowest cards.
Whether or not a sequence is good is deter-
mined by {a) the number of cards it contains,
and by {b) the highness of the cards. A higher
sequence is superior to or good against a lower
one containing the same number of cards ; but
a sequence containing a greater number of cards,
even though low ones, is good against a higher
sequence containing fewer cards. For example : —
A tierce major is good against any other tierce;
a quart minor is good against a tierce major.
PIQUET. 09
The elder hand, when calling his sequence,
names it thus: — "A quint minor," "A quart to
a queen," or whatever it may be. The younger
hand says, "Good," "Equal," or "Not good,"
as in the case of the point. If good or equal,
the elder hand then names the suit in which
his sequence is. If not good, the younger calls
his sequence, and names the suit in which it is,
after the elder has finished calling and has led
a card.
When a player has a sequence that is good, he
reckons one for each card of it, and an additional
ten if it is a sequence of five or more cards {see
p. 88). The player whose sequence is allowed to
be good, is also entitled to reckon all smaller
sequences in his hand, notwithstanding that his
adversary holds a sequence of intermediate value.
For example : — A has a quart to a queen (queen,
knave, ten, nine) in one suit and a tierce minor
(nine, eight, seven) in another suit ; B has a quart
to a knave (knave, ten, nine, eight) in a third
suit. A calls a quart to a queen, which is good.
He scores four for it, and then calls the tierce
minor, and scores three for that. B's quart to
a ten counts nothing, and does not prevent A
from reckoning the tierce minor.
If the two players' sequences are equal, the
equality is called by both, and neither scores
anything for sequence, even though one player
may hold a second sequence of equal value, or
an inferior sequence. The equality of the superior
90 PIQUET.
sequence nullifies the whole. Thus : — A calls
1 tierce major; B says, "Equal." A and B are
precluded from scoring a second tierce major or
any smaller sequence.
If the elder hand inadvertently calls a low se-
quence, holding a higher one, he may correct
his miscall before it has been replied to by
the younger hand. After the younger hand has
replied, " Good," or " Equal," the elder must
abide by his call, and can only reckon sequences
equal to, or lower than, the one he called. Thus : —
A has a quart minor and a tierce minor. If he
first calls a tierce minor, and it is admitted to be
good, he can reckon two tierce minors, but he
cannot reckon the quart.
There is one exception to this. If the elder
hand calls a sequence that is good against the
cards {i.e., better than any sequence the younger
hand could possibly have in hand and discard
taken together), he can reckon any sequence he
holds, even though it is better than the one first
called. For example : — A has a quart to a king,
and a tierce to a queen, good against the cards.
If he first calls a tierce to a queen, he may after-
wards reckon his quart.
Some players show all that they claim as good
or equal ; this, however, is not compulsory, unless
the cards are asked for.
As the law now stands, calling is equivalent to
showing. Hence, if A calls, say, " Forty-eight in
diamonds," the only diamonds he can hold being
PIQUET. 9 1
ace, knave, ten, nine, eight, B is deemed to know
that A holds a quart. A forgets to reckon his
quart, and leads a card. B cannot reckon any
equal or inferior sequence. If A remembers he
has not reckoned the quart, he can rectify the
omission before B has played to the first trick.
{See Law 56, p. 11, and Case IV., p. 22.)
The younger hand is not bound to call his best
sequence first. Thus, if the elder has called a
tierce major, and the younger has replied, " Not
good," the younger is at liberty to show and count
a tierce minor first, and then a quart or larger se-
quence. The reason for the difference between
the elder and younger hands in this respect is
that the younger is only reckoning (adding up
his score) ; but the elder is ascertaining whether
what he calls is good, and, by calling a lower
sequence before a higher, he might gain infor-
mation as to the contents of his opponent's hand
to which he is not entitled. The elder hand,
however, having called a sequence which is good,
may reckon lower sequences in any order for the
same reason, viz., that he is then only adding up
his score.
After sequence (but see p. 87), quatorzes {i.e.,
four aces, kings, queens, knaves, or tens), or trios
(three of any of these), are called and reckoned
as before, except that in this combination there
can be no equality. Quatorzes or trios of cards
smaller than tens are of no value. A quatorze
if good reckons fourteen (one for each card with
92 PIQUET.
ten added) ; a trio if good counts three. Any
quatorze is good against a trio ; thus, four tens
are good against three aces. If each player has
a quatorze the highest is good ; the same if each
has a trio ; and, as in the case of sequences, any-
thing that is good enables the player to count all
smaller combinations of four or three in his hand,
and nullifies any that the adversary may hold of
intermediate value. For example : — A has four
tens and three knaves ; B, three aces. A scores
fourteen for tens, and three for knaves ; and B
does not count his aces.
A quatorze or trio is called thus: — "Four aces,"
"Three queens," or as the case may be. The
younger hand then says, " Good," or " Not good,"
as before. The cards of a quatorze or trio are
never shown on the table. The adversary, how-
ever, has a right to demand their production if
he thinks fit.
The reason that quatorzes are not shown is
that when aces, kings, queens, knaves, or tens
are called, the adversary knows what the cards
are. When a player might hold a quatorze, but
only calls three of that rank (as, e.g., A calls three
kings, when he might have held four), the adver-
sary is entitled tb know which card is not reckoned.
In the case of the example given, B might say,
" Show your kings," by which means he would
ascertain the king that is not called. But the
usual course is for B to say, "Which king do
you not reckon ? ", and A is bound to reply.
PIQUET. 93
In calling quatorzes or trios the elder hand
should call his best first, as, if he calls a lower
one, he cannot afterwards reckon a higher one,
unless the lower one is good against the cards.
If the one first called is good, any lower ones
may be reckoned without regard to order, as in
the case of sequences.
The younger hand may reckon his quatorzes
or trios, if good, in any order. He is not obliged
first to call his best, and he may rectify a miscall
of any kind until he has played to the first trick,
for the reason already given {see p. 91).
After the elder hand has finished calling, and
has reckoned all that he has good, he leads a
card. Before playing to this card, the younger
hand reckons all that he has good, or calls all
that he has equal.
A player is not bound to call anything unless
he pleases ; and he may always call less than he
holds, if he does not desire to expose his hand.
{See also Laws 46-56, pp. 8-1 1.)
PLAYING.
The players having called what they have good
or equal, and reckoned what they have good,
next proceed to play the hands. The elder hand
leads any card he pleases, and his opponent plays
to it. The younger hand must follow suit if
able, but otherwise he may play any card he
thinks fit.
94 PIQUET.
Two cards, one played by each player, consti-
tute a trick. The trick is won by the player
who plays to it the higher card of the suit led.
A player is not obliged to win the card led unless
he chooses, if he can follow suit without. The
winner of the trick leads to the next, and so
on, until all the twelve cards in each hand are
played out.
During the play the leader counts one for each
card led. He counts one whether he wins the
trick or not. If the leader wins the trick, his
adversary counts nothing in play; but if the
second player wins the trick, he also counts one.
The winner of the trick again counts one for the
card he next leads, and so on.
The winner of the last trick counts two instead
of one.
The tricks are left face upwards on the table
in front of the player who wins them. They
may be examined by either player at any time.
If each player wins six tricks, the cards are
divided^ and there is no further score. If one
player wins more than six tricks (called winning
the cards)., he adds ten to his score, beyond w'hat
he has counted in hand and play. If one player
wins every trick (called winning a capoi), he adds
forty to his score instead of ten, ten for the cards,
and thirty for the capot.
All cards scored for as good, or called as equal,
must be exhibited to the adversary if demanded
during the play of the hand. This, however, does
PIQUET. 95
not apply to a call of an equal number of cards
for point by the younger hand, when the strength
of his point is inferior to that of the elder's.
Among players, the cards are not as a rule ex-
hibited ; but all necessary questions with regard
to them are replied to. Thus, A scores a point
of five cards, and plays three of them. Presently,
B wants to refresh his memory, so he says, " How
many of your point have you ? ", or " How many
spades?", or as the case may be; and A is bound
to reply, "Two." Similarly, if A had scored three
kings, B is entitled to a reply to the question,
" What kings have you in hand ? ", or B might
ask, " Have you anything in hand that you have
called ? ", when A must tell him. {See also
Laws 57-60, pp. II, 12.)
CARTE BLANCHE, PIQUE AND REPIQUE.
In the foregoing pages carte blanche, pique and
repique have been omitted in order to simplify the
description of the game.
If either player has dealt to him a hand which
contains neither king, queen, nor knave, he holds
carte blanche. This entitles him to score ten. Be-
fore he takes in he must show the carte blanche
by dealing his cards quickly one on top of the
other, face upwards on the table, after which he
retakes them into his hand. If either player has
carte blanche, he must inform his adversary at
once, by saying, " I have a carte blanche," or
96 PIQUET.
"Discard for carte Ijlanchc." As soon as the
adversary has discarded, the carte blanche is
shown him. (See also Laws 18-20, pp. 3, 4.)
If the elder hand scores, /« /iand and plaj, thirty
or more before his adversary counts anything that
hand, he wins ?i. pique. A pique entitles the player
to add thirty to his score ; but in all other respects
the hand is played as already explained. For ex-
ample : — A has a quint major, which is good for point
and sequence, and three aces, which are also good.
He counts twenty for the point and quint, and three
for the aces, and then leads the quint major and the
two aces, or one of the aces and some other card.
This makes him thirty ; and, as his adversary has not
scored anything, it is a pique. A, when he leads
the card which makes him thirty, instead of counting
"Thirty," counts "Sixty." It is not necessary that
the card led which makes thirty should win the trick.
The elder hand, having reckoned tw^enty-nine when
his adversary has reckoned nothing, and having the
lead, wins a pique even if he leads a losing card.
If a player scores, in hand alo?te, thirty points or
more by scores that reckon in order before anything
that his adversary can count, he wins a repique. A
repique entitles the player to add sixty to his score.
Thus : — If a player has point, quint, and quatorze (all
good), he repiques his adversary. He counts five
for point, fifteen for sequence, making twenty, and
fourteen for quatorze, making thirty-four. Instead
PIQUET. 97
of counting "Thirty-four," he counts "Ninety-four."
In all other ways, the hand is played as already
explained.
Equalities do not save a pique or a repique.
In the case of an equality, the game proceeds as
though no such mode of scoring existed. Thus : —
A has point equal, quint and quatorze, both good,
and leads a card. He wins a pique.
SCORING.
During the progress of the hand, each player
continues to repeat aloud the amount of his
score that hand for the time being {see Example,
pp. 103-5). ^^ the end of the hand, the number
scored is written on a scoring card, each player
recording both his own and his opponent's score,
in separate columns.
Although the scores are, for the sake of con-
venience, recorded only at the end of the hand,
they are recordable when they accrue, whether
made by the elder or younger hand, in the order
given in the following table of precedence : —
I.
Carte blanche.
2.
Point.
3-
4-
Sequences.
Quatorzes and trios.
5-
6.
Points made in play.
The cards.
98 PIQUET.
It is important to bear in mind this order of
accretion in the case of piques or repiques.
Thus, a pique can only be won by the elder
hand, as the card he leads counts one /« play
before the younger hand plays ; hence it stops a
pique. But the one reckoned by the elder hand,
when he leads his first card, does not prevent
his being repiqued if he has nothing good, and
the younger hand can score thirty or more
in hand, because scores in hand reckon before
points made in play. So, also, if the elder
hand scores thirty or more in hand, he does
not necessarily gain a repique. Thus he may
have a quint (good), a tierce, and a quatorze
(good). But if his point is not good, he does
not gain a repique, although he scores thirty-two
in hand alone ; because the younger hand's point
is recordable in order before the sequences and
quatorze.
To take another example : A (elder hand) has
a huitieme (good for twenty- six) and a tierce
(good for three more). He then leads a card,
and thus reaches thirty. B (younger hand) has
three tens which are good. The three tens
save a pique, as they reckon in order before the
point made in play by A.
Carte blanche, taking precedence of all other
scores, saves piques and repiques. Carte blanche
counts towards piques and repiques just the same
as other scores. Thus: — A player showing a
carte blanche, and, after discarding, having point
PIQUET. 99
and quint (both good), would repique his ad-
versary.
A capot does not count towards a pique, as the
forty for the capot is added after the play of the
hand is over. For instance : — A (elder hand) has
ace, king, queen, knave, eight of spades ; ace,
king, knave, ten, eight, seven of hearts ; and ace
of diamonds. His point and quart are good.
These, with three aces, reckon thirteen. He
wins every trick, and his total score is twenty-six.
He adds forty for the capot, making him sixty-six.
He does not gain a pique, as he only made
twenty-six in hand and play.
A player who reckons nothing that deal as a
penalty (see Laws 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 33, 35, 54,
and 58) is not piqued or repiqued if he holds any
cards which, but for the penalty, would have
scored before his adversary reached thirty. His
cards though not good to score, are good to bar his
adversary.
A partie consists of six deals, each player
dealing three times. The partie is won by the
player who makes the higher score in six deals.
If both players score the same number, each
deals once more. If there is a second tie, the
partie is drawn.
By agreement the partie may consist of only
four deals, the scores in the first and last deals
counting double. In case of a tie, each deals
once more, the scores in the extra deals counting
single.
H 2
lOO PIQUET.
The winner of a partie deducts the points scored
by his opponent from his own, and adds a hundred
to the difference. Thus : — A scores in the six deals
1 3 1 ; B scores 113. A wins 1 3 1 - 1 3 = 1 1 8 points.
Should the loser score less than a hundred in the
six deals, the winner (whether he has made a
hundred or not), adds the points scored by his
adversary to his own, instead of deducting them,
and also adds a hundred to his score. Thus : —
A scores 125; B scores 81. A wins 125 + 181
= 306. This is called winning a rubicon. {See
also Laws 61-74, pp. 12-14.)
When, during the last hand of a partie, a player
finds (before the play of the hand begins) that he
cannot save his rubicon, he is not required to
count any points in play. He throws down his
hand, and tells his adversary to count every trick
(thirteen), and the cards (ten). He may, if he
pleases, play to divide the cards ; but in that case,
he has to add to his score the points he makes in
play. Or, his adversary may play for a capot ; but
that does not affect the case, as, if capoted, the
loser has no points in play to score.
Scoring cards and pencils are required. The
diagram (p. 10 1) shows a card ruled for six parties,
or for five parties if the totals are recorded on the
same card.
The game is played for so much a point, or for so
much a hundred, odd money not being reckoned
in the final total. Thus : — A and B play five
parties, at ten shillings a hundred (about equal to
PIQUET. lOI
half-crown points at whist). A wins 75 points, as
shown by the card. Fractions of fifty points are
not reckoned ; A wins five shiUings. Some players
only neglect fractions of twenty-five points ; this
should be agreed beforehand. Twopenny points
are reckoned at a pound a hundred, fractions of
A
B
A
2J
A 1 i?
A
B
A
B
A
B
27
13
15
30
20
IS
2S
14
23
12
Tot
ah.
15
31
75
4
4
115
11
36
9
25
150
476
M
6
45
G
10
42
22
12
40
S
416
141
18
29
32
12
33
11
8
41
15
26
126
35
12
G
3S
3
74
19
17
27
13
692
617
G17
25
23
51
^
5
41
15
24
IG
20
16 J:
14
114
224
192
92
75
301
103
144
130
104
75
175
3
4
150
41G
\47G
141
12G
fifty points not counting in the final total. Three-
penny points are not reckoned by the hundred,
but by multiples of forty, fractions of forty points
not counting; hence 75 points only score as 40.
At sixpenny or shilling points, fractions of a pound
are excluded in reckoning the finals; 75 points,
therefore, only score as 60.
PIQUET.
At chouette piquet {see p. io6), the points of each
partie are reckoned as multiples of ten, adding one
to the tens for units above five, and neglecting
units from one to five. Thus, 416 counts 420 ;
141 counts 140. As the score must always end in
a naught, the naughts are omitted when entering
the figures. Taking, as an example, the parties on
the scoring card, p. loi, the totals might be entered
as under : —
First Partie.
Second Partie.
Third Partie.
etc.
A + 30
B- 15
C - 15
A + 84
B - 42
C - 42
A - 96
B + 48
C + 48
Instead of writing each score at length, as above,
and taking out the results at the end, it is found
convenient in practice to add and subtract the
totals after every partie, and to keep a separate
scoring card for that purpose, as shown below :—
A
+
30 +
114
+
18
+
32
+
19
B
-
15 -
57
-
9
-
37
-
50
C
-
15 -
57
-
9
+
5
+
31
A wins 190; C, 310; B loses 500. At ten
shillings a hundred, when fractions of fifty points
are not reckoned, A wins 150 (or fifteen shillings);
C wins 300 (or thirty shillings). B, on the score,
actually loses 500 (or fifty shillings); but in con-
sequence of fractional parts of fifty points not
counting in the final total of amounts receivable,
B gets off with a loss of forty-five.
PIQUET. 103
EXAMPLE.
The following Example will show more dis-
tinctly than mere description the mode of playing
the game. The reader, if previously unacquainted
with Piquet, is advised, after reading the Descrip-
tion of the Game (pp. 83-101), to play over the
Example, and then to re-peruse the description.
When playing the Example, it is advisable, in
the case of learners, to place the cards face
upwards on the table.
A and B are the players.
A (elder hand) has dealt him ace, king, knave
of spades ; ace, queen, knave, eight of hearts ;
knave, eight, seven of clubs ; and nine, eight of
diamonds.
He discards king of spades ; eight, seven of
clubs ; and nine, eight of diamonds.
He takes in nine, eight of spades ; king of
hearts ; nine of clubs ; and king of diamonds.
B (younger hand) has ten, seven of spades ;
ten, nine, seven of hearts ; king, queen, ten of
clubs ; and ace, queen, knave, ten of diamonds.
He discards seven of spades ; and nine, seven
of hearts.
He takes in queen of spades ; ace of clubs ;
and seven of diamonds.
I ©4 PIQUET.
The game then proceeds thus: —
A (calls his point), "Five cards."
B (says), "What do they make?"
A (replies), "Forty-nine," or "Making nine."
13 (replies), " Good "
A (says), "In hearts; and quart major."
B, "Good."
A (counting his point and sequence), " Five and
four are nine." " Three knaves ? "
B, "Not good."
A (leads ace of hearts, and says), "Ten."
B (says), " Four tens fourteen, and three queens
seventeen." (Plays the ten of hearts, j
A (leads all the hearts, and says), " Eleven,
twelve, thirteen, fourteen."
B (plays seven, ten, knave, and queen of dia-
monds, and, repeating his score, says), "Seventeen."
A now has five tricks, and, in order to win the
cards, he should lead anything but a spade ; for B,
having called queens and tens, must have queen,
ten of spades.
A (leads king of diamonds, and says), "Fifteen."
B (wins with ace of diamonds, and says),
"Eighteen."
B (leads, ace, king, queen, and ten of clubs,
and says), " Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-
two."
A (plays nine, knave of clubs, and eight, nine, of
spades, and, repeating his score, says), "Fifteen."
B (leads queen of spades, and says), " Twenty-
three."
PIQUET. 105
A (wins with ace, and says), "Sixteen," (and
then leads knave of spades, and says), "Eighteen,"
(and then adding the score for the cards, says),
"Twenty-eight."
B (repeating his score, says), "Twenty-three."
A then writes on his scoring card, 28, 23 ; B
writes on his card, 23, 28 ; the cards are gathered
up by B, and the other pack is cut for A's deal.
lo6 PIQUET.
CHOUETTE PIQUET.
Sometimes Piquet is played by three persons.
The three players (A, B, C,) cut. The one who
cuts the highest card (A) has choice of deal and
cards, and plays one partie, d la chouetie, against
the other two in consultation. The player who
cuts the lowest card (C) sits out, and advises B.
If the single player (A) wins the partie, he con-
tinues to play against the other two. C takes B's
place, and B advises C ; and so on.
As soon as A loses a partie, the player who
advised in that partie (say C) takes A's place. B
plays against the other two, and A advises C. If
C loses, A takes C's place, and C advises A ; if
C wins, A takes B's place, and B advises A; and
so on.
The single player has choice of deal and cards
throughout, and plays double stakes, as at dummy.
When a chouetie is played, the totals of each
partie are recorded on a separate scoring card,
as shown at p. 102.
PIQUET. 107
CONDUCT OF THE GAME.
SHUFFLING.
The pack should be thoroughly shuffled after
every hand. Owing to the nature of the game,
cards of the same suit are often played together.
Thus : — A has a sixieme major in spades ; B, a
sixieme minor in hearts. A puts down his sixieme,
and says, "Play six cards." B has no spade, and
plays his sixieme minor. A then, seeing he cannot
win another trick, lays down the remainder of his
sorted hand ; on these cards B places the remainder
of his sorted hand. Each scores seven in play.
If the cards are now taken up together and are
not well shuffled, the consequence will be that,
when this pack is dealt again, the sixifemes will be
pretty equally divided between the players, and the
cards in the stock will run in suits ; or if the pack
is so cut that one of the sixiemes is at or near the
bottom, those cards will form the major part of the
stock. Even if the cards are moderately shuffled,
the cards will have a tendency to keep together in
suits, as any one may convince himself by giving
an ordinary shuffle to a sorted pack, and then
turning it face upwards.
Io8 PIQUET.
DEALING.
The player who cuts the higher card should
elect to deal. There is a slight advantage in
having the first deal. The player who deals first
is elder hand in the last deal of the partie, and is
therefore the attacking hand when he has the best
opportunity of discarding, or of playing, to the
score.
MANAGEMENT OF THE STOCK.
After dealing, count the cards in the stock (and
see Laws lo, ii, 12, 39, 40, 41, 42, and 43). Place
the stock face downwards on the table, in one
packet (Law 9). Some dealers separate the stock
into packets of three and five. The elder hand
should always object to this, as, if he takes up a
card he is not entitled to see (which he might
readily do if the packets happen to be separated
wrongly), he can reckon nothing that deal.
TAKING UP THE HAND.
On taking up your hand, count that it contains
the right number of cards ; if not, announce the
fact (and see Laws 11, 38, 39). While counting
and sorting your cards, look for carte blanche.
Your next step is to decide on your discard.
[See Discarding, pp. 1 16-15 i.)
TAKING IN.
Having discarded, you proceed to take in.
When taking in, always count that you leave the
full number of cards for the younger hand, the
PIQUET. log
penalty for mixing one of his cards with your
hand being that you can reckon nothing that
deal ; and this even if there is an erroneous deal,
and there are not the right number of cards in
the stock. The best method is to draw the stock
towards you, at the same time spreading it slightly,
when you can easily count the stock before taking
up a card.
The younger hand, before taking in, should also
count that the proper number of cards are left in
the stock ; if too many are left, and the younger
hand mixes one of his opponent's cards with his
hand, he can reckon nothing that deal.
CALLING AND SHOWING.
Before calling your hand, you should ascertain
what remains good against you, or what there is
equal. {See also p. 152.) If necessary, examine
your discard for this purpose.
When a point or sequence is called, which is
good or equal, it is a safe plan, especially for
novices, to show it ; because a player who volun-
tarily shows anything, which he claims to be good
or equal, is liable to no penalty for miscalling
(Law 55).
If you are not in the habit of showing what you
call, and have put out a card of your point, which
is nevertheless allowed to be good or equal, and
the absent card may make a difference to your
adversary in playing t"he cards, you should inform
him of the value of the card you do not call. For
no PIQUET.
example : — You are younger hand, and have dis-
carded the king of spades. You have taken in
spades, and your point, which is good, is ace,
knave, ten, eight of spades. When calUng the
point, you should say, " Thirty-nine in spades, and
I do not reckon the king." Your adversary will
then know, as he is entitled to know, and as he
could know if he asked to see your point, that he
need only keep one guard to his queen when
playing the cards.
You would be equally entitled not to reckon the
king, if you had it in hand, and wished to conceal
your strength, in hopes of persuading your oppo-
nent to unguard his queen when playing the cards.
But as calling without showing draws special at-
tention to the absence of the king, it seems
preferable always to show your point, and to say
nothing about what you do not reckon. In the
case supposed, put ace, knave, ten, eight of spades
on the table, and say, "Good for four," and let your
adversary think what he pleases about the king.
As a matter of etiquette, if, under such circum-
stances, you do not show your point, and do not
announce that the king is out, your adversary
would have just cause of complaint at not being
informed. If he is misled by your ignorance of
this point of etiquette, the only reparation you can
make is to offer to play the cards again.
If you have, or might have, two points of the
same counting value, it is also your duty to de-
clare which of them you claim as good or equal.
PIQUET. Ill
Thus : — You have king, queen, ten, eight of one
suit, and might have ace, queen, ten, seven of
another. If thirty-eight is good or equal, you
should say, " In spades," or " In hearts," or as
the case may be, without waiting to be asked
in which suit your point is. If younger hand,
you need not announce the suit until the elder
has led a card.
Similar observations apply to sequences and
trios {see Case XII., pp. 27, 28).
If you call a trio, allowed to be good, when
you might hold a quatorze of the same rank, as
three kings when you might hold four, you
should state which king you do not reckon,
e.g., "Three kings, not reckoning the king of
diamonds." Many players omit to say which
card of a quatorze they do not reckon, and
wait to be asked. In that case, you should
enquire which card of the quatorze your ad-
versary does not reckon ; but you should not
j)ut the question until he has played a card {see,
also, Case IV., p. 22).
The question should be in this form, " Which
do you not reckon ? " You must not assume
that a card is out merely because it is not called ;
and your adversary is not bound to admit that he
has not called a card (whether by inadvertence or
design) which he holds in his hand.
If the question is put in another form, e.g.,
" Which king have you put out ? " and the ad-
versary has not put out a king, but holds four,
112 PIQUET.
having called three, he is entitled to reply, " I
do not reckon the king of spades," or of the
suit in which he deems it best to conceal the
king from you. Or, he may simply answer, " King
of spades." In giving this answer, he assumes, as
he is entitled to do, that you have asked him the
regular question. He leaves it doubtful whether
he has a king out or not ; and all Piquet players
understand his reply in that sense {see Case XVI.,
P- 3°)-
Many players have a habit of referring to the
discard while the hand is being called. It is
better to avoid this, as, by your consulting the
discard, a shrewd adversary may gain a clue to
a card you have rejected, or may be reminded
of a miscall. Thus, he calls three queens, and
you, having no queen in hand, immediately look
at your discard. If you find a queen there, your
opponent will probably conclude that you were
looking for the fourth queen ; if you do not find
a queen there, and there has been a miscall, your
adversary is reminded that he might have four
queens, while he is in time to rectify his error.
PLAYING THE CARDS.
During the play of the cards, the opponent
is entitled to be informed as to all the cards
you have in hand, which have been reckoned
as good or called as equal.
The question is usually put in this way, " How
many of your point?" or, "How many of your
PIQUET. 113
quint?'"' or as the case may be. Sometimes,
however, it takes this form, "How many clubs?"
or as the case may be.
Suppose you hold three clubs, and have only
called two of them. You are entitled to reply,
"Two that I have called," or, "Two of my
quint,'' or simply, "Two." This is understood
by all Piquet players as leaving it doubtful
whether you have a third club, and not
necessarily that you have discarded one. The
information should be only as to cards called
for the i^urpose of scoring, or of preventing
an adverse score. The enquirer is bound in
effect to say, " How many of so and so have you
that you have called?" {See Cases XV., XVI.,
pp. 29, 30.)
It is disputed whether a player, who has the
wrong number of cards in hand, may cover his
mistake by intentionally playing too many or too
few to his adversary's lead. In strictness, the
cards should be played one by one ; but, for
the sake of convenience the leader frequently
puts down a number of winning cards together.
If, on doing' this, he says, " Keej) three (or four)
cards," or as the case may be, it seems only
reasonable that the second to play should be at
liberty to do as he is bid, and to keep the
number specified. He is not bound to count
the cards led by his adversary, witli whom the
initial irregularity rests. But, if the second to
play is told to i)lay so many cards, the case is
I
114 PIQUET.
difierent, and he ought not knowingly to play
any other number. He must then submit to the
consequences of his blunder. Some players think
that even in the first instance, the wrong number
of cards should not be played with intention.
This IS a question of ethics, which can only be
decided by the custom of the card-table. No
rule has ever been laid down. It is believed,
after consultation with several players of repute,
that the general custom is as here stated. The
leader can always protect himself by counting
the cards played.
Another undecided point in playing the cards,
which often occurs, is this: — At the end of a
hand the leader says, "All the others are yours."
As a matter of fact, they are not yours, you
having discarded a winning card. What is your
proper course ?
In the opinion of players well qualified to
judge, you should make no reply to such an
observation. If your adversary then proceeds to
play his cards, you must play to them in the
usual way, and let him win such tricks as he
can. If he throws down his hand, and you have
discarded a winning card, and therefore cannot
win the remaining tricks, you should request him
to play the cards one by one. Such a request is,
no doubt, equivalent to informing your adversary
that you have a winning card out, and the con-
sequence may be somewhat disastrous to you.
This is a misfortune which cannot be helped.
PIQUET. 115
SCORING.
During the calling and the play of the hand,
always keep in mind your adversary's score as
well as your own, as, even among the most
honourable players, mistakes sometimes occur.
If you observe that your adversary is reckoning
too much, correct him at once.
After the play of the cards, call- both your
own and your adversary's scores aloud as you
record them; your adversary should do the same,
or should admit your call to be correct.
At the end of the partie, similarly compare
the total before entering it on your scoring card
(and see Law 74, p. 14).
■r^r
12
Il6 PIQUET.
DISCAEDING.
INTRODUCTORY-
On acconnt of the variety and complexity of
the considerations involved in discarding at
Piquet, the few general rules that can be laid
down are liable to frequent modification. Subject
to this condition, a statement follows of the more
important points to be borne in mind when
discarding.
This statement is supplemented by the appli-
cation of the Doctrine of Probabilities to various
cases, and by a series of illustrative Examples.
GENERAL RULES.
Before deciding on your discard, you should
ascertain whether you hold anything which is
good against the cards, or is equal, and what
there is against you that may be reckoned as
good, or called as equal.
For example : — You take up A's hand, p. 103
{q.v.). There are against you, a six-card point,
a quint major, and four tens. You have nothing
good, and may be repiqued. In addition, there
are two five-card points against you, a quart
minor, a tierce major, three kings and three
PIQUET. 117
queens. You should make yourself aware of all
this before throwing out a card ; and so on for
other hands. At first, this will be slow work ;
but, with practice, you will be able to perform
the mental operation of finding what there is
against you, with but slight effort.
When discarding, elder hand, your main object,
with moderately good cards, should be to plan an
attack. You should freely unguard kings and
queens, and should throw out whole suits, with
a view to making a large score if you take in
to the suits you keep.
On the contrary, your first care, younger hand,
should be to protect your weak places. You
should keep guards to kings and queens ; and
you should seldom denude yourself entirely of a
suit of which you hold one or two small cards
only, as these may guard high cards taken in.
The elder hand will probably lead his best suit;
and that is not unlikely to be the one in which
you were originally weak. For instance : — Sup-
pose you, being younger hand, take up the cards
already referred to (A's hand, p. 103), including
nine, eight of diamonds. You should not part
with both the diamonds, but should discard two
small clubs and one diamond.
Keeping the best suit for point is essential in
most cases, and especially younger hand. The
point is of much greater consequence than be-
ginners suppose. Gaining the point makes an
average difference of more than ten to the score,
Il8 PIQUET.
and, what is more important, it saves piques and
repiques. It is, therefore, seldom the game for
either player to discard from the suit which he
selects for point.
Next in importance to the point are the
cards. You should discard in such a way as to
give the best chance of dividing or winning the
cards Winning the cards, instead of losing them,
makes a difference of about twenty-three or twenty-
four points.
In consequence of the previous consideration,
it not unfrequently happens, more especially elder
hand, that you should not keep the longest suit
for point, when that suit is composed of low cards,
and keeping them necessitates the discard of high
cards from other suits.
Do not break into several suits in discarding
if it can be avoided. For if cards are taken in to
a broken suit, it remains ragged. When you have
made up your mind to discard from a given suit, it
is often right to throw the whole of it. If any card
of that suit is kept, it would be (a) because it is a
winning card ; or, [b) because it is a guarding card,
more especially younger hand ; or, (c) because it
makes up a quatorze or trio.
Referring to the hand already given (A's hand,
p. 103), you may discard from three suits, for the
last of the above reasons, throwing out two small
clubs, two diamonds, and king of spades, in order
to keep the three knaves. There are four tens
against you ; and you have a poor chance of the
PIQUET. 119
point or of the cards, even if you keep the king
of spades. But suppose you had the nine of
hearts instead of the knave. You should then
throw the clubs and diamonds, and keep two
unbroken suits. Going for two suits is often
the resource of a player in difficulties.
It is sometimes advisable to throw a whole suit,
younger hand, either because it consists of three
useless cards, or because keeping it may injure
your hand in other respects. In the second case,
the rejected suit should be one in which you are
not likely to be attacked. Thus :— If the suit
discarded consists of king, knave, and a small
one, the elder hand will probably avoid leading
that suit should he happen to hold ace, queen
of it. King, queen, and a small card is a suit
which may be discarded without much probability
of being attacked in it.
It is a common error with beginners at Piquet
not to take all their cards, especially if taking the
full number involves parting with high cards. The
hands where all the cards should not be taken are
few. There is not so great an objection, however,
to the younger hand's leaving a card as to the
elder hand's doing so ; for, in the latter case, the
card left may be taken by the adversary, but,
in the former case, it is merely excluded from
the player's hand. The principal situation for
leaving a card, elder hand, is where there is a
chance of a great score, and no repique against
you.
ISO PIQUliT.
Cards in sequence, or that may form a se-
quence with those taken in, should be kept in
preference to others of equal value. Thus : — ■
If you are obliged to discard an ace or a king
from an ace, king suit, discard the ace, as you
may take in so as to hold a sequence to a
king ; if you discard the king you cannot hold
a major sequence in that suit. But other con-
siderations may cause you to select the king.
Looking again at A's hand, p. 103, it will be
seen that A throws the king in preference to the
ace. His reason is that he has two aces and
only one king ; he may take in aces to form a
trio or quatorze.
Again : — Queen, knave, ten is a better suit to
keep than king, knave, ten, unless it is deemed
advisable to hold a king rather than a queen. It
is generally right to retain a virgin tierce to a
queen, especially younger hand, unless you see
a chance of a great score in other suits.
Trios should be kept if they can be retained
without injuring the hand in other respects.
Thus : — If about to discard a king or a queen
of a suit, and you have two other kings, discard
the queen ; but if you have two other queens,
discard the king.
It is seldom advisable to put out a high card
for the sake of keeping a low trio, especially
when there is a higher one or a quatorze against
you. Many a hand is ruined by going for qua-
torzes of knaves or tens.
PIQUET. 121
The discard is further affected by the state
of the score, especially in the last two hands of
the partie. If you are a good way ahead, and
particularly in the last hand but one, if you have
a chance of winning a rubicon, you should make
a safe discard, with the view of dividing or winning
the cards, in order to keep your adversary back.
On the other hand, if the score is much against
you, and you are under a rubicon, you are justi-
fied in making a bold discard. In the last hand,
the discard must frequently be regulated by the
state of the score.
CALCULATIONS.
The Piquet student should be acquainted with
the following odds.
The odds that the elder hand (if he takes all
his cards) will take in —
One named card are . . . 3 to I against him
Two ,, cards are . . . 1 8 to I
Three ,, ,, . . . 113 to i
Four ,, ,, . . . 968 to I
Five ,, ,, . . . 15503 to I
One card (at least) of two named cards are 5 to 4
One ,,
,, three
,, 3 to 2 on him
Two cards ,,
,, ,,
,, 6 to I against him
One card ,,
,, four
,, 5 to 2 on him
Two cards ,,
>> >>
,, 3 to I against him
Three cards ,,
I. >>
33 to 1
122 PIQUET.
The odds that the younger hand (if he takes all
his cards) will take in —
One named card are . . . 17 to 3 against him
Two ,, cards are . . . 62 to i
Three ,, ,, ... 1139 to i
One card (at least) of two named cards are 5 to 2
One ,, ,, ,, three ,, 3 to 2
Two cards ,, ,, >, ,, 21 to i
One card ,, ,, four ,, 29 to 28 on him
These calculations properly applied will direct
the player in discarding.
Thus: — It is 3 to I that the elder hand does not
take in a named card. It is, therefore, more advan-
tageous to carry the best suit for point, and high
cards for the chance of the cards, than to throw
out any of these in hopes of taking in a card to
complete a quatorze of queens, knaves, or tens
{see Examples III., IV., and V., pp. 127-130).
The odds against taking in two or more named
cards, or two of three named cards, elder hand, are
so considerable, that, except in desperate cases,
good cards should not be discarded on such a
speculation. But the odds are very slight against
taking one at least of two named cards, or two at
least of four named cards ; and they are in favour
of taking one at least of three or four named cards.
To apply these : — If the elder hand has a quart
major and two other aces dealt him, the odds that
he will take in either the ten to his quart, or the
other ace, are only 5 to 4 against him.
PIQUET. 123
Again: — If the elder hand carries three aces and
three kings, the odds against his taking either the
other ace or the other king are only 5 to 4 against him.
If the elder hand has a quatorze dealt him, and
there is only one superior quatorze against him, he
should, as a rule, keep the quatorze, as the odds
that he will take in one card at least of four named
cards are 5 to 2 in his favour. But this rule may
require reconsideration, with a low quatorze, if, to
keep it, cards must be put out that in other ways
spoil the hand, as, by compelling the player to
discard from point or sequence, or to put out high
cards that risk the loss of the cards, or of a capot.
With a quart to a king and two other kings, it is
3 to 2 in favour of the elder hand taking in the
ace or nine to the quart, or the fourth king, and,
therefore, it is very advantageous to keep the quart
and the three kings.
If the elder hand has a quart to a king, and a
quart major dealt him, and he is considerably be-
hind in the score, and he must discard from one
of the quarts, he should keep the quart to the
king ; for it is 3 to i against his taking in the ten
to the quart major, but only 5 to 4 against his
taking in either the ace or nine to the quart to the
king. (For a further illustration of this calculation,
see Example XXV., p. 144.)
The chance of taking a certain number of cards
included in a larger number of named cards, must
not be confused with the chance of taking a certain
number of named cards. For instance, if the elder
124 PIQUET.
hand has two kings and two queens dealt him, the
odds arc 3 to i against his taking in two of the
other kings and queens. But the odds against his
taking two kings or two queens under these cir-
cumstances {i.e., two named cards) are 17 to 2
against him.
The odds against the younger hand's taking in
even one named card are so considerable (17 to
3 against him) that he ought not to discard on
such a chance except in desperate cases {see
Example XXX., p. 149), especially if by so
doing he risks the winning or saving of the
cards {see Example XIII., p. 135). The same
rule applies a fortiori to more than one card.
It is only 5 to 2 against the younger hand's taking
in one, at least, of two named cards. Hence, in
some cases, he would discard on this chance {see
Example XVIII., p. 139; and Example XXXII.,
p. 150).
Again : — It is only 3 to 2 against the younger
hand's taking in one, at least, of three named
cards. Therefore, if he must take in one of three
cards to save a pique or a repique, it would be
right for him to discard for this chance, even if, in
order to do so, he must put out a valuable card,
as a king, or one of his point. (For a further illus-
tration of this calculation, see Example XXXI.,
p. 149.)
It is 29 to 2S in favour of the younger hand's
taking in one of four named cards. So, having no
ace dealt him, he may calculate on taking in at
PIQUET. 125
least one ; or, with two quarts (except major or
minor quarts), he may expect to take a card to
make a quint ; or, with a quart major against him,
he may calculate on drawing, at least, one of the
quart major.
If the elder hand has two quatorzes against him
(say of aces and kings), it is only ^;^ to 31 against
his drawing both an ace and a king [i.e., of drawing
at least one of four aces, and at least one of four
kings). Younger hand, it is 4 to i against taking
in one of each quatorze.
The younger hand has two trios, say three
knaves and three tens. Either of these, if im-
proved into a quatorze, will save the rubicon.
To keep both the trios, in good play, he must
leave a card. Ought he to keep the two trios, and
leave a card, or to take three cards and discard
from one of the trios ?
If he takes all three cards, the probability that
he draws the one card to complete the quatorze
ic JL— 5_7_
If he only takes two cards, the probability that
he draws one at least of the two cards to com-
plete a quatorze is ^^^.
The odds are therefore 74 to 57, or about
4 to 3, in favour of leaving a card.
EXAMPLES.
Owing to the impossibility of calculating all
the chances in many cases that present them-
selves in actual play, differences of opinion often
126
PIQUET.
arise as to the proper discard. Such differences
of opinion may be expressed in respect of some
of the following hands. The Author will be
content if he has succeeded in avoiding glaring
errors, and in exhibiting a series of Examples
that serve to guide those who desire to learn
the game of Piquet.
The score is assumed to be love-all, unless
otherwise stated.
Example I.
r/nguarditig a king, elder hand, to keep the poitit.
Guarditig kings, and protecting a weak suit,
younger hand.
With these cards the elder hand should throw
out knave, eight, seven of spades, seven of hearts,
and eight of diamonds, keeping the clubs for point,
and the three kings. In order to keep the point
he must unguard a king; and this, being elder
hand, he does not hesitate to do.
The younger hand with these cards should
throw eight, seven of spades, and eight of dia-
monds. He should keep both his kings guarded.
PIQUET.
127
and should on no account part with the seven of
hearts, which would be of great service should he
take in king of hearts, or queen and another.
Example II.
Keeping the pomt. Utiguarding suits elder ]ia7id,
and keeping guards you7iger hajid.
The elder hand having these cards dealt him,
should keep the quart to a king for point, and the
four kings, discarding queen, knave of hearts, ace,
knave of clubs, and ten of diamonds.
The younger hand should also keep the point
and the four kings. In addition to this he should
keep all his suits guarded, and should discard
knave of hearts, and ace, knave of clubs. He
should not part with the ten of diamonds.
Example III.
Discarding from low trios ^ to keep the point.
Trios of queens, knaves, or tens, may be freely
128
PIQUET.
discarded from, if, in order to keep them, a card
of the point has to be put out.
With these cards the elder hand should not
keep his three queens, but should throw the clubs
and the diamond, and retain the other two suits
unbroken.
Example IV.
Discarding from a trio, iit preference to throwing
froin the point, or to leaving a card.
If the elder hand keeps his knaves he must
either throw a card from his point or leave a card.
Neither course is advisable. The general rule is
not to break into the point; and it would be
dana:erous for the elder hand to leave a card with
PIQUET.
I2g
two seven-card points, a quint, three aces, three
kings, and three queens against him. He must
sacrifice the knaves to keep his point, by which
means he will, at all events, divide the cards. His
proper discard is the heart and the four diamonds.
Example V.
Discarding from a trio, in order io keep the
poitit. Going for two siiits, with a better chance
of the cards.
The elder hand has three queens, and there is
no great score against him. Notwithstanding this,
he should not part with the eight of his point
(diamonds) to keep the queens, but should dis-
card the spades and hearts. By sacrificing the
queens he gives up a chance of fourteen ; but by
keeping the eight of diamonds he increases his
chance of scoring the point, and he improves
his chance of winning tricks in play.
It may be stated generally, that with ace, king,
queen, and a small card of a suit, and three
queens, or three knaves, or three tens not good
against the cards, and such other cards that the
K
130
PIQUET.
player must cither discard one of these or the
small card of the point, the game is to keep
the point.
Example VI.
Discarding from a point 7vhicli retnaifis good
against the cards.
It is hardly necessary to state that the ob-
jection to throwing a card from the point does
not apply if, after the discard, the point still
remains cood against the cards.
The discard, elder hand, is seven of spades, the
two hearts, the club, and the diamond, for the
reasons already given.
If the club or the diamond were the seven, the
discard is less easy ; most players would leave a
card instead of throwing one of the point.
Example VI I.
Discarding from loiv trios, to divide or win the
cards. Giving up the point, younger ha?id, in
order to keep suits guarded.
It is seldom right to throw out an ace, or a
PIQUET. 131
king, in order to carry three queens, knaves, or
tens, if by so doing the loss of the cards is
risked.
The principal exception is when one named
card taken in gives a good chance of a pique
or a repique ; the cards ought then generally to
be risked, subject however to the state of the
score, a safe discard being preferable as a rule
when ahead.
The elder hand should discard the clubs and
diamonds for the reasons already given.
The younger hand's discard is doubtful : on the
whole, it seems safest for him to give up the point,
and to discard three spades, keeping all his suits
guarded, and going for the chance of queens and
of dividing the cards.
In the above hand, substitute the ten of
spades for the seven. The elder hand should
then keep the spades and the queens. The
younger hand should throw out the three clubs,
unless very backward in the score.
K2
132
PIQUET.
Example VIII.
Discarding fro7n low qtiaiorzes, to divide or 7i'in
the cards.
If the loss of the cards is risked by keeping qua-
torzes of knaves or tens, it is generally the game to
sacrifice the quatorze. Younger hand, especially,
should not put out a high card, to keep a low qua-
torze, when there is a superior quatorze against him.
The younger hand should discard knave of hearts,
and knave, nine of diamonds. He sacrifices the
knaves to keep his point, and a card of entry in every
suit. By discarding thus, he must at least divide the
cards; the great probability is that he will win them.
Example IX.
Discarding a quint mi7ior, elder hajtd, for the
cha7ice of the cards. Keepitig the quint, younger
hand., as a protection against a pique.
PIQUET.
133
With a quart major in one suit, a quint minor
in another, and small cards in the third and
fourth suits, it would generally be right, elder
hand, to put out the quint minor in preference
to breaking up the quart major. Keeping the
quint minor will probably result in loss of the
cards, i.e., in a loss of over twenty points for a
gain of fifteen.
But if one of the three outside cards is a
knave, and the cards of the fourth suit are such
that the quint minor is good against the cards, it
would, in most cases, be right to keep the quint
and the knaves, as the fourth knave gives a good
chance of a repique.
The younger hand, in the case first stated,
should not part with any of his quint. He has
but little chance of saving the cards, and should
throw out his three ragged cards, keeping the
quart and the quint in hopes of saving a pique
by his point or sequence.
Example X.
A similar case {see Example IX.)
The elder hand here should throw out the five
134 PIQUET.
small diamonds, as, by keeping them, and throw-
ing the high cards from the other suits, he would
probably lose the cards, and a number of points
in play. He would also give up a chance of a
quatorze of queens.
It may be objected that, by discarding in the
way proposed, the elder hand runs the risk of
being repiqued, there being two minor quints
against him. It is, however, very improbable
that the younger hand can (or will), carry two
minor quints.
The younger hand discard must be conceived
on different principles. He must play on the
defensive, and give up what small chance he has
of the cards in order to make sure of saving a
repique. His discard will, therefore, be ace, king
of hearts, and knave of clubs.
Example XL
Discarding for the cards.
4\*
In this hand, the cards are of more importance
than the point ; the elder hand discard should,
therefore, be queen and four small spades, carrying
PIQUET. 135
three kings and three unbroken suits. By dis-
carding thus, if he fails to take in the fourth
king, he still has a good chance of winning the
cards ; but if he keeps the six-card suit, and fails
to take in the ace of spades, he will have a very
poor chance of the cards, after having thrown out
king, queen of hearts, knave of clubs, and king,
nine of diamonds.
Example XII.
Discarding for the cards.
This is a similar case to the last, but not so
pronounced. Most players would discard nine
of spades and king, nine, eight, seven of clubs.
If the elder hand retains the point in clubs, and
throws out four high cards in other suits, his
chance of winning the cards is diminished. Some
players prefer to discard the hearts and diamonds.
Example XIII.
Discarding for the cards.
If the younger hand has three of each suit dealt
him, and is guarded in each suit, and can calculate
136
PIQUET.
on dividing the cards, he should not discard more
than one card, when, by so doing, he runs the risk
of losing the cards. This rule applies especially
when the score renders it advisable to keep the
adversary back. It does not apply to cases where
the younger hand, being very backward in the
score, must go for a great game.
The younger hand should only take one card,
discarding the seven of spades, for the reason
already given.
Example XIV.
Discarding for a capot.
If the elder hand has such cards that he can
win eleven tricks certain, it is often right for
him to discard only one card, the losing card.
Then, if he takes in to one of his guarded suits,
he has a lay down capot ; if not, he will very
likely put his adversary to a card. No example
of such a combination is necessary, as, once
pointed out, the discard is obvious.
PIQUET.
137
The following case applies to the younger
hand : —
The younger hand should discard queen, ten,
eight of diamonds, for the chance of a capot.
He is not unlikely to succeed if he happens
to strengthen the spade or heart suit when he
takes in.
Example XV.
Keeping imhroken suits.
Here the elder hand should throw out the five
clubs, and keep three unbroken suits. He has a
better chance of scoring points in jilay than by
discarding from the other three suits.
138
PIQUET.
Example XVL
Keeping imbrokeji suifs.
The elder hand discard is tierce minor in clubs,
and queen, ten of diamonds, leaving the spades
intact. It would be less advantageous to discard
one diamond and one spade, as thus three suits
are broken into.
Example XVII.
Throwing a li'hole suit, yoiaiger hand, to keep
three unbroken suits.
In this case, the younger hand should throw the
spades, keeping three unbroken suits, with three
aces and three queens.
PIQUET.
139
Example XVIII.
Keeping unbroken suits. Discarding on the chafice
of saving a pique.
The younger hand should discard the three
small clubs, keeping three unbroken suits. He
might also keep three suits by discarding the
hearts ; but there is a pique against him, and he
ought not to part with the hearts, as they give
him a chance of a quart, which saves the pique.
Example XIX.
LeavitiiT a card.
Here the elder hand should keep his point and
kings, and leave a card.
Similarly, with ace, king, and four small cards
of a suit, and two other kings, the game would be
I40
PIQUET.
to leave a card, if there is no repique against the
elder hand.
Example XX.
Leaving a card.
Here the elder hand should discard nine of
spades, nine of clubs, and king, queen of dia-
monds, leaving a card. His point, sequence, and
aces are good against the cards, and he has a
certain pique ; but if he discards one of his
hearts, he may not get the point, as there are
three six-card suits against him.
The younger hand should also leave a card,
throwing the two nines, and keeping his point,
three aces, and the guard in diamonds.
Example XXI.
Leaving cards, younger hand.
. The main consideration for the younger hand,
"when in doubt as to taking all his cards, is
PIQUET.
141
whether the card or cards taken will probably
be more valuable than those thrown.
The younger hand discard is nine, eight of
spades, leaving a card. If one of the guards to
hearts or diamonds is thrown, a risk is run of
taking in a less valuable card. By discarding only
two cards and retaining the guards, the younger
hand has a moral certainty of dividing the cards.
Example XXII.
Leaving a card, youfiger hand.
The younger hand should throw out ten of
spades, and ten of clubs, and leave a card,
keeping himself guarded everywhere, and going
for two unbroken suits of sequence cards.
142
PIQUET.
Example XXIII.
Leaving a card 7viih a repique against.
This, as a rule, can only be justified by the
state of the score.
It is the last hand of the partie. Score :
A (elder hand), 68; B (younger hand), 155.
There is a repique against B.
B discards knave, eight of clubs, and is
doubtful about leaving a card. If he can make
certain of not losing the partie, he should only
discard two cards.
A's highest score if he carries all he possibly
can, and B takes in very badly, will be 105,
viz., six diamonds (good for twenty -one), a
quart in hearts, and four tens (good for four-
teen), which, together with sixty for the repique,
score 99. He may also make six in play.
In this case B makes nine in play, and the
cards, nineteen.
The scores will therefore be. A, 173; B, 174;
under the most unfavourable circumstances.
^. B, having a certainty in hand, should not
risk the partie.
PIQUET. 143
Example XXIV.
Discarding for sequence.
With two suits of nearly equal value, the one
should be selected for point which gives the best
chance of a sequence.
The elder hand should throw out eight of
spades, ten, nine of clubs, and knave, nine of
diamonds, and keep thirty -nine in hearts for
point, rather than forty in clubs. The reason is,
that one card, viz., the knave of hearts, if taken
in, gives a quint, whereas a quint cannot be held
in clubs without drawing two cards ; also, by
keeping the hearts, there is a better chance of
winning the cards.
Similarly, a player holding ace, queen, nine,
eight, seven, in one suit, and ace, knave, nine,
eight, seven, in another, should keep the latter.
The chance of taking king of one or the other
suit is equal, and, consequently, the chance of the
cards is equal ; but in one case a ten taken in
gives a quint, in the other it does not.
If the ten is substituted for the nine in both
suits, the discard is determined on the same
j)rinciple.
-%
144
PIQUET.
Example XXV.
Discarding for seqiie?ice.
The elder hand should discard nine of spades,
king, queen, knave of hearts, and nine of clubs.
The diamonds are kept for point in preference
to the hearts, because, in the diamond suit, one
of two named cards taken in gives a quint,
whereas, in the heart suit, the quint can only
be completed by one named card ; and, which-
ever suit is kept, the chance of making the cards
is not affected.
Example XXVI.
Discarding for sequence.
The younger hand must take in a club or a
'king to save a repique. He should discard queen.
PIQUET.
M5
ten of spades, and eight of clubs, keeping two
unbroken suits, both guarded, and both giving
him a chance of a good sequence if he takes in
a club. He should on no account discard a heart
in order to keep his three tens.
Example XXVI L
Discarding for a quatorze.
The proper discard, elder hand, seems to be
quart minor in spades and ace of clubs, for the
following reasons : — It is only 5 to 4 against taking
queen or knave of spades. There are also two
combinations in diamonds (viz., ace, ten ; or ten,
nine), either of which gives the elder hand a
quint ; and, all these circumstances being con-
sidered, there is a probability of a good score
by discarding as proposed. On the other hand,
if the elder hand discards the four spades only,
he may leave one of the following cards : king of
clubs, ace of diamonds, or, ace, queen, or knave
of spades; and in any of these cases he would,
L
146
PIQUET.
probably, lose more points than by parting with
the ace of clubs.
There is another way of discarding the hand,
viz., by putting out the spades and one heart. By
so doing, the elder hand runs the risk of putting
out fourteen points on a chance which is but
5 to 4 against liim, viz., of taking queen or knave
of spades.
Example XXVIII.
Discarding:; to the score.
The discard here, elder hand, depends greatly
on the state of the score.
At the commencement of a partie the discard
is seven of spades, nine of hearts, and nine of
diamonds, leaving two cards. Although the point
as dealt is good against the cards, and is not
necessarily good after the discard of the seven
of spades, it is better to throw that card than
to leave a third card, as, in order to repique the
adversary, it is necessary to break up his septieme
in clubs. If the elder hand succeeds in this, his
PIQUET. 147
point and sequence will be good, notwithstanding
the discard of the spade.
If, in the last hand of a partie, the elder hand is
only playing for a pique and the cards, he should
discard one of his aces (not the ace of spades), in
addition to the three cards previously directed to
be thrown. He thus leaves only one card, and
increases his chance of breaking the septieme.
The fourth ace is useless at this score, as the
elder hand wins the partie without it, if he takes
a club.
If the elder hand only wants forty-two to make
sure of the partie, his discard should be the two
nines, as he can then score forty-two out of his
own hand for certain. This, of course, means
that forty-two wins the partie, notwithstanding the
younger has a septieme and makes three points
in play.
If the elder hand's score is such that he must
win the partie unless there is a septibme against
him, he should keep the spade suit and throw
out the other cards.
Example XXIX.
Discarding to the score.
Before discarding, especially in the fifth and
sixth hands, add up the score, and ascertain how
many points each player requires.
L2
148
PIQUET.
The show of the elder hand is twenty-eight
points {i.e., it is about an even chance that the
elder scores twenty-eight, or more) ; the show of
the younger hand is fourteen points {see p. 199).
By bearing this in mind, a player can easily tell
whether he has the best of the partie or not.
If he has, he should discard for a safe and
moderate game ; but, if far behind, he should
make a bold discard for a pique or a repique,
and should give up all consideration of winning
the cards.
The elder hand, at the beginning of a partie,
should discard ten, nine, eight, seven of hearts,
and nine of diamonds. But if it is the last hand
of the partie, and a repique is necessary to win,
the discard is king of spades, tierce major in clubs,
and nine of diamonds, keeping the quint and the
three knaves.
Similarly, if the adversary is well ahead, in the
last hand or last hand but one, a player with a
quart to a queen or knave, and three queens,
knaves, or tens, should make a push for the
partie, by keeping the quart and the trio.
PIQUET.
149
Example XXX.
Discarding to the score.
\7 "^
The discard of the younger hand, at the com-
mencement of a partie, would be the three dia-
monds. But if, in the last hand, he were far
behind in the score, he should put out king of
and queen, nine of diamonds, on the
of drawing the fourth ten, which would
give him a repique. Some players would go for
the repique at the beginning of a partie ; but the
expediency of playing so forward a game is doubtful.
hearts,
chance
Example XXXI.
Discarding to the score.
At the bcginnmg of a partie, the younger hand
should discard queen, nine, eight of spades ; but
148
PIQUET.
The sliow of the elder hand is twenty-eight
points {i.e., it is about an even chance that the
elder scores twenty-eight, or more) ; the show of
the younger hand is fourteen points {see p. iqq).
ERRATUM.
Page 148. line 4 ; and page 173, line 7 ; for •' ItH) " read •' 203."
and should give up all consideration of winning
the cards.
The elder hand, at the beginning of a partie,
should discard ten, nine, eight, seven of hearts,
and nine of diamonds. But if it is the last hand
of the partie, and a repique is necessary to win,
the discard is king of spades, tierce major in clubs,
and nine of diamonds, keeping the quint and the
three knaves.
Similarly, if the adversary is well ahead, in the
last hand or last hand but one, a jolayer with a
quart to a queen or knave, and three queens,
knaves, or tens, should make a push for the
partie, by keeping the quart and the trio.
PIQUET,
149
Example XXX.
Discarding to the score.
The discard of the younger hand, at the com-
mencement of a partie, would be the three dia-
monds. But if, in the last hand, he were far
behind in the score, he should put out king of
hearts, and queen, nine of diamonds, on the
chance of drawing the fourth ten, which would
give him a repique. Some players would go for
the repique at the beginning of a partie ; but the
expediency of playing so forward a game is doubtful.
Example XXXI.
Discardimr to the score.
At the beginnmg of a partie, the younger hand
should discard queen, nine, eight of spades ; but
15°
PIQUET.
if, in the last hand of the partie, his score were
eighty-three, he should go for two chances of a
quint to save the rubicon, and discard knave of
hearts, king of clubs, and ten of diamonds.
Example XXXII.
Discardms: to the score.
At love-all, the younger hand would discard ace,
nine, eight of clubs. In this hand it is more im-
portant to keep the spades guarded and the knaves
than to preserve the four-card point in clubs.
Most players would make the same discard at
all scores, it being very unlikely that the elder
hand can carry a pique. Some, however, in the
last hand, if only a pique against the hand can
win the partie, would discard the spades, because
then either nine of diamonds or ten of clubs taken
in saves a pique. At this score the sacrifice of the
knaves is of little consequence, as they are useless
unless the younger hand pulls a king, in which
event he is certain to win the partie.
PIQUET.
151
Example XXXIII.
A doubtful discard.
This hand (elder) admits of several discards.
Some players would sacrifice the knaves, and
throw knave, eight, seven of clubs, and knave,
seven of diamonds. Others would throw king,
ten, eight of spades, seven of clubs, and seven ot
diamonds ; or, king, ten, eight of spades, ace of
hearts, and seven of diamonds ; or, ace of hearts,
ace, eight, seven of clubs, and seven of diamonds.
The first mode of discarding is preferred by
the Author, unless the game is desperate, when
the last way of discarding should be resorted to.
152 PIQUET.
CALLING.
INTRODUCTORY.
Calling is not such a simple matter as at first
sight appears.
Your object is to reckon all you can (except
as will be pointed out), and at the same time
not to expose your hand more than necessary,
as by informing your adversary of the contents
of your hand, you materially assist him in play-
ing the cards.
After taking in, and before calling, look
through your hand, and, if your memory is at
fault, through your discard also, to ascertain
what you have good, or equal, or what remains
good against you.
CALLING THE POINT.
You should not thoughtlessly call your best
suit for point, when you have two points. You
should consider which of the two it is to your
advantage to declare.
For example : — You (elder hand) have king,
queen, knave, eight of hearts ; and ace, queen,
ten, eight of clubs. You call four cards, allowed
to be good. You propose to attack in hearts ;
you should therefore declare that suit for point.
PIQUET. 153
To carry the illustration a step further. Your
other cards are ace of spades, and three diamonds.
You have put out knave, nine, eight of spades,
and two diamonds.
You know, or ought to know, that thirty-eight,
in hearts, is good against the cards. You call
four cards, and are told that four cards are
equal. Your point in clubs makes thirty-nine.
But having ascertained that thirty-eight is good,
you declare the point in hearts. Your adversary
may then suppose that you are out in clubs, and
may therefore play the cards to a disadvantage.
It may be asked. If you know your point is
good, why not declare it at once ?
The answer is that, when you may hold the
same number of cards in more than one suit, it
is generally advisable to call the number of cards
of your point, even though good against the cards,
in hopes of compeUing your adversary to discover
some portion of his hand or discard by his reply.
Thus : — You have forty-seven in one suit, and
might have had forty-five in another. The best
point the younger hand can hold is forty-six. If
to your call of " Five cards " he replies, " Equal,"
you know five cards in his hand ; if he replies,
"Good," you know he has discarded from his
point.
Again: — If any four -card point which the
younger hand can hold must be good, and you
have a point of thirty-one, you should call three
cards, though holding four. You may thus induce
154 PIQUET.
the younger hand to believe you have three cards
in each suit, and may consequently gain several
points in play. (For an example of a thought-
less call of four cards, see p. 175.)
REPLYING TO THE CALL OF POINT.
When you are younger hand, and the elder calls
a number of cards for point, equal to yours, you
should not declare the equality if his point must
be good.
Thus: — The elder hand calls, "Five cards." You
have already noted that the only five-card suit he
can hold is ace, queen, knave, ten, eight of hearts,
making forty-nine. Your five-card suit (ace, queen,
knave, ten, seven) only makes forty-eight. You
should not reply, " Equal" to the call of five cards,
but should at once allow five cards to be good.
When you reply, " Not good " to a point, you
should at the same time observe in which suit
the call is.
For example : — Elder hand calls five cards.
You have already seen that the only five-card
point he can hold is in hearts. You, therefore,
know five cards in his hand ; this knowledge may
be of great use to you in playing the cards.
Or : — Elder hand calls five cards which are
equal. He may then decline to say what they
make, if he knows your five cards must be better
than his. Nevertheless, if he can only hold one
five -card point, you know what the cards are.
Or, he may declare that his cards make, say,
PIQUET, 155
forty-four. Forty-four is not good ; all the same,
you know that his point consists of five cards,
without an ace, and ending in a tierce minor.
You will thus probably be able to tell five cards
in your opponent's hand.
The following table, if learnt by heart, will
facilitate a knowledge of the cards of a point
which is not good : —
A point of 34 must contain "], 8, 9, and a tenth card.
( 7> 8, and two tenth cards.
" J^ " " I 7i 8, 9, and an ace.
I 7, 9, and two tenth cards.
" -^ " " / 7, 8, a tenth card, and an ace.
I 7, and three tenth cards.
,, 37 ,1 >) ) 8, 9, and two tenth cards.
' 7, 9, a tenth card, and an ace.
( 8, and three tenth cards.
,, 38 ,, ,, < 8, 9, a tenth card, and an ace.
( 7, two tenth cards, and an ace.
\ 9, and three tenth cards.
>) 39 >> ;) \
( 8, two tenth cards, and an ace.
I four tenth cards.
,, 40 ,, ,, \
\ 9, two tenth cards, and an ace.
,, 41 ,, ,, three tenth cards and an ace.
For points from forty-four to fifty-one it is only
necessary to add a tenth card to these. For
example: — A point of forty-eight must contain
eight, and four tenth cards; eight, nine, two tenth
cards, and an ace ; or seven, three tenth cards,
and an ace. Fifty can only be made in one
way, viz., with nine, three tenth cards, and an
156 PIQUET,
ace. Six-card points follow a similar rule ; but
for large points, a simpler way of finding the
cards that compose them is to see whether you
have in hand, or to remember whether you have
in discard, the remaining cards of the suit.
CALLING SEQUENCES.
When, elder hand, you have called a point,
which is equal, or not good, and you can con-
sequently tell that your sequence in some other
suit is not good, you should not call any se-
quence.
For instance: — Your point is forty-one, viz.,
ace, king, queen, ten of spades. It is not good.
The only better point against you is quart major
and one small diamond. Your best sequence is
a quart to a queen in hearts. You should not
call the quart, as it cannot be good or equal,
and by calling it you only expose your hand.
By not calling it, you leave it doubtful whether
you have put out any hearts ; and this may be
of use to you in playing the cards.
SINKING.
If there is anything good against you, or equal,
which is not called, you will probably be able to
discover some of the cards your adversary has put
out This may subsequently assist you in playing
the cards.
But you must not conclude, as a matter of
course, that your adversary has discarded what
PIQUET. 157
he does not call. Owing to the advantage in
playing the cards derived from knowing the ad-
verse hand, it not unfrequently happens that your
adversary will conceal some of his cards, and not
call them, although they may be good. He puts
up with the loss of several points in calling his
hand, on the chance of afterwards dividing or
winning the cards.
You should be on your guard against this
manoeuvre (called si?iking). It is especially
resorted to when a player has a suit un-
guarded, and calling all he holds would expose
the fact.
Your adversary, for instance, is a player who
rarely discards from his point. He calls five
cards (good against the cards), and declares five
spades, when he might have six. You should
immediately suspect that he may be sinking a
card of his point, and should not hesitate to
attack him in another suit from which he is
likely to have discarded, and in which you have
a tenace. The game being for him to keep his
other suits unbroken, you will probably find him
unguarded in the suit he has discarded.
Or: — Your adversary may hold a tierce in a
suit other than his point. The tierce is good,
or equal, and he does not call it. He may
have put it out; or, he may be unguarded some-
where, and calling the tierce would render this
evident; or, he may wish you to attack him in
the suit in which he holds the tierce, and may
158
PIQUET.
be trying to make you think he has put out
that suit.
Again: — -He may have a quart to a knave, and
may only call a tierce to a knave, which is good,
or equal. Or, he may have a trio which he does
not call ; or, a quatorze, and may only call a trio.
It will be for you to judge of the probabilities
in these and similar cases, and to act accordingly.
You should especially suspect an experienced
player of concealing cards which, if called, would
reveal weakness, affecting the play of the cards,
in other places.
It should be added, that it is useless to practise
the stratagem of sinking cards against an indifferent
player who does not count your hand.
EXAMPLES OF SINKING.
Example I.
The elder hand, having put out three small
hearts and two small clubs, holds the following
cards : —
His point and quart major are admitted to be
good. He then proceeds to call a tierce to a
king in diamonds (sinking the ten of diamond.s —
PIQUET.
159
this must be done without hesitation), in order
to lead his opponent to imagine that the ten of
diamonds has been discarded, and that the king
of hearts is guarded. He then calls three kings,
which are not good. He next leads the spades,
and then the king of diamonds, which the ad-
versary wins, and leads clubs. To the third
club, the elder hand throws (without hesitation)
the knave of diamonds, and to the fourth club, the
queen of diamonds. Suppose the younger hand
now remains with ace, queen of hearts, and the
elder with king of hearts and ten of diamonds.
If the younger hand, believing the elder to have
two hearts (as would seem to him must be the
case, if unacquainted with the riise)^ leads his
queen, in order to win the last trick, the elder
hand makes both tricks and wins the cards.
Example H.
The elder hand's point is equal, the younger
having seven hearts. The elder also has four
kings, good against the cards ; but, having put
out a ten, his three aces and three kings are
also good against the cards.
i6o
PIQUET.
If he calls four kings, he cannot capot his
adversary. He, therefore, calls three aces and
three kings, and declares that he does not
reckon the king of hearts. He then leads his
spades, his ace, king of clubs, and ace, king of
diamonds. His adversary will have to keep one
card, and, as he believes the king of hearts to
be out, he will probably keep either the queen
of clubs or of diamonds, and throw away the ace
of hearts. If he does so, he is capoted. The
elder hand gives up eleven points by sinking a
king, with the moral certainty (except against a
very acute or a very stupid player) of gaining
thirty-two.
Example III.
A (Eider Hand).
]3 (Younger Hand)
PIQUET, l6t
A has discarded seven of spades ; nine, seven
of clubs ; and knave, seven of diamonds.
A's point is not good ; his tierce is equal. A
does not call three aces ; B reckons point, and
three tens.
A leads the hearts and spades, and remains
with two cards, viz., ace, queen of clubs.
B remains with king, knave of clubs, and ace
of diamonds, and has yet to play one card.
If, in consequence of aces not having been
called, B believes the ace of clubs to be out,
he will play knave of clubs, when A will lead
ace of clubs, and B will be capoted.
A {:o7/J> such as this will generally succeed in
practice ; but it is difficult to see with what
cards A could have gone out to justify the dis-
card of the ace of clubs.
B is in a very awkward position. Probably
his best game is to keep the clubs, as then he
saves the capot, unless A has thrown four clubs
and a spade, a most unlikely discard.
When put to a card, the general rule is to count
the cards remaining against (see pp. 170, 171).
There is one other consideration, viz., what cards
the adversary cannot in reason have discarded.
Thus: — If a player might have a quart which he
does not call, and his hand is such that it would
have been very bad play to discard from a quart,
the presumption is he did not go out with the
quart originally, and therefore that he has taken
in to that suit {compare Example IV., pp. 162, 163).
M
l62
PIQUET.
EXAMPLK IV.
A (Elder Hand)
B (Younger Hand).
B has discarded nine of clubs ; and ten, nine
of diamonds.
A calls a point of four cards. He is therefore
out in hearts and diamonds. He has probably
gone for clubs and queens. The best four-card
point he can hold makes thirty-eight.
B says, " Making? " A replies, " Making eight."
B says, "Not good."
The tierce major is equal. B shows ace, knave,
ten, eight of spades, for point, sinking the king,
and reckons three aces.
A makes four tricks in clubs. To the fourth
club B plays eight of spades.
PIQUET.
163
A then leads king of diamonds, won by B with
the ace.
B leads tierce major in hearts. To the third heart
A, believing king of spades to be out, throws seven
of spades. B wins all the remaining tricks.
A similar feature is to be noticed here as in
the previous example. It is clear that B has a
club and a diamond out. There is no conceiv-
able combination of cards with which it would
be right for B to discard a club, a diamond, and
king of spades. A should see that there is some-
thing wrong ; and, unless he thinks B has put
out the king of spades by mistake, should keep
himself doubly guarded in spades.
Example V.
A (Elder Hand).
B (Younger Hand).
U 2
1 64 PIQUET.
A has discarded nine, eight, seven of hearts ;
and eight, seven of clubs.
He went out with the diamonds and three
queens, and took in king, ten of spades ; ace of
hearts ; and knave, ten of clubs.
B's discard was knave, ten of hearts ; and nine
of clubs. He kept a six - card point in spades ;
ace of clubs ; and king, nine of diamonds. He
took in king of hearts ; king of clubs ; and seven
of diamonds.
It is the last hand of the partie. A's score
is seventy - eight ; B's score is a hundred and
four.
It is obvious that B must win the partie, even
if he does not reckon his point. All A can score,
under the most favourable circumstances, is thirty-
three, making him iii. B must make six in play;
and this, with his three kings, good against the
cards, will make him 113.
B should therefore sacrifice his score for point,
as, if he can make it appear that he is guarded in
hearts, and is therefore not attacked in that suit,
he can divide the cards, when A will be rubiconed.
A announces five cards. B might ask how many
they make, and score the point, sinking one spade,
if A declares hearts. B will immediately be sus-
pected, will be attacked in hearts, and A will save
the rubicon, with two tierces, nine in play, and the
cards.
B should sink the whole of his point, and allow
five cards to be good. He may still be attacked
PIQUET. 165
in diamonds or in clubs, when he at least divides
the cards, and A is rubiconed.
It so happens that A's point is in diamonds. A
reckons five for point, and two tierces to a queen,
in all eleven.
B reckons three kings.
A leads diamonds. B wins the second trick
with the king, and leads ace, queen of spades.
A wins the queen, and leads the remaining dia-
monds, to which B throws a diamond and two
spades. A, supposing B to hold king of hearts
guarded, now leads queen of clubs, and B divides
the cards. If B had called his six-card point, A
would have led ace of hearts, instead of queen
of clubs, and would have won the cards.
A scores 98, and is rubiconed.
In the worst possible case that can happen,
i.e., if A leads ace of hearts instead of queen
of clubs, notwithstanding that B is apparently
guarded in hearts, B, as already pointed out,
still wins the partie.
-JS"^--
1 66 PIQUET.
PLAYING THE CAEDS,
COUNTING THE HAND.
In playing the cards, you must be guided a
good deal by what your adversary has called,
and also, to some extent, by what he has not
called (but see Sinking, pp. 156-165). You will
generally know several cards in the adverse hand,
or will be able to mark some that have been
put out ; sometimes you will know all the cards,
especially after some of the tricks have been
played. For instance : — If the younger hand
fails to follow suit to your first lead of a suit
of which you could only have five cards, it is
evident he has put out three of that suit. You
then know every card in his hand, and should
regulate your play accordingly.
In default of actual knowledge of the contents
of your opponent's hand, you should count his
cards so far as he has called them, and should
consider what cards he is least likely to have
discarded. You then mentally assign to him the
cards he has most probably kept, and so fill up
his number {see Examples I. and II., pp. 175-177).
PIQUET. 167
HABIT OF ADVERSARY.
You should also take into account the personal
habit of your adversary in discarding, calling, and
playing.
For instance : — Some players habitually make
bold discards, and throw entire suits. These
are often found unguarded. Others, on the con-
trary, are timid discarders. These are generally
guarded, even elder hand. The timid discarder
is apt to leave a card, or to put out one of his
point, in order to keep himself guarded. In the
latter case he may, if unguarded, have sunk a
card ; but timid players seldom sink anything,
except in very pronounced cases.
The same division of players into bold and
timid applies to their play of the cards. A timid
player, for example, will never give away a chance
if he can make sure of dividing the cards. Against
such an adversary it would be useless to unguard
a king in play (as in Examples III. and IV.,
pp. 178-180), because, when he finds himself with
five tricks and an ace in hand, he is certain to
dash out the ace.
Some, again, always throw high cards when
attacked in suits in which they are guarded, in
order to induce the leader to continue the suit.
Thus: — With queen, nine, eight, they will throw
the nine to the ace. If a player, who habitually
does this, plays the eight to the ace, you may
conclude he has not got the nine, and that he
is unguarded.
l68 PIQUET.
Your safe rule as to playing small cards, is
not to have any rule, and to play them some-
times in their natural order, and sometimes not.
PLAYING TO OBTAIN INFORMATION.
This presents itself in various forms. The fol-
lowing are two common instances.
You have ace, queen, nine, eight, seven of
hearts. You decide to lead hearts, notwithstand-
ing that your adversary has called kings, and
may hold king, knave, ten of hearts.
You lead ace of hearts, to which the ten falls.
You should next lead a small heart, not the
queen. You thus discover whether the knave of
hearts is out.
If your adversary has not called kings, and it
is possible that he has discarded a king, your
second lead should be queen of hearts, as you
may find the knave single against you.
Again: — Several tricks have been played, and
you are in doubt what to lead. You have a
suit headed by ace, king. You would generally
be right to lead the ace, in order to see one
more card before determining on your subsequent
tactics. This point of play is of more importance
than at first sight appears. It will be incidentally
noticed in the Examples.
Conversely, you should play so as to avoid
giving information. Thus: — When you have the
choice of throwing a card you have called, or
one you have not, you should prefer the former.
PIQUET. 169
You have, e.g., king, queen, and a small one of
a suit, and have called kings, but not queens.
Ace is led, to which you play the small one.
The suit is continued; you should next play the
king.
ESTABLISHING A SUIT.
Failing direct indications from the calling, your
first lead should be from a suit you are likely
to establish, such as king, queen, knave, and a
small card; ace, queen, knave, and a small card,
and so on. It is obvious that, when you again
have the lead, you should generally pursue the
suit of which you have winning cards remaining.
With two suits of equal commanding strength,
you should generally begin by leading the one
of which you hold the greater number. (For an
exception to this rule, see p. 170.)
PRESERVING GUARDS AND TENACES.
When throwing to the opponent's lead, you
should, of course, keep guards to kings and
queens. Exceptional hands occur in which these
should be unguarded, owing to the score, or to
other circumstances {see Examples III. and IV.,
pp. 178-180).
When towards the close of a hand you have
a tenace in one suit, and winning cards with a
losing card in others, you should lead the winning
cards and then the losing card, to oblige your
adversary to lead up to the tenace. Of course,
lyo PIQUET.
if you can count that your adversary is unguarded
in the tenace suit, the above rule does not apply.
Also, when holding a tenace, it is often advis-
able to keep a losing card of another suit of which
the adversary has the best, in order to give him
the lead at a time when he must lead up to your
tenace.
When you hold two tenace suits of equal com-
manding strength, and must find your adversary
unguarded in one of them in order to divide
the cards, you should generally first lead the less
numerous suit; and, if you must play to divide
the cards (owing to the score), and your adversary
is equally likely to be unguarded in either suit,
you should always attack first in the one of which
you hold the fewer number.
The management and preservation of tenaces is
a very important, and often a difficult point, in
the play of the cards. {See Examples V. to X.,
pp. 181-1S9).
PLAYING TO SAVE A CAPOT.
When you are put to a card {i.e., when your
adversary has won eleven tricks and you remain
with two cards, and are in doubt which of them
to keep), you should keep the card of the suit
of which the greater number is against you.
For example: — You remain with ace of spades
and ace of hearts, and have to play one of them
to a club or a diamond led. By counting all the
cards played, and your discard, you find that there
PIQUET. 171
are three spades wanting, and two diamonds, in
respect of which it is an even chance that any
four may have been discarded. In that case,
you should keep the ace of spades.
In making this calculation, you should include
all the absent cards of each suit, without reference
to the fact that one of them, which might have
been reckoned in calling, has not been reckoned.
For, should your adversary see he can put you
to a card, he will certainly sink the combination
which, if reckoned, would tell you what his twelfth
card is.
An exception to this is when reckoning the
score, previously assumed to be sunk, would give
your adversary a pique or a repique. Then it
would not be worth his while to sink a card on
the chance of a capot.
PLAYING TO THE SCORE.
If you have five, or six, tricks and a winning
card and the lead, play the winning card, unless
certain that your opponent holds that suit, either
from what he has called, or from the cards he has
already played; for, by playing otherwise, you risk
eleven points for the chance of gaining one for
the last card.
If, however, one trick does not make the dif-
ference of saving, or winning, the cards, and you
remain, at the end of a hand, with a winning card
and a losing card, you should generally lead the
losing card, in order to win the last trick, unless
172 PIQUET.
you can tell that the adversary has none of the
suit to which your winning card belongs. For
instance: — You remain with ace, queen of a suit,
and the lead ; and there is nothing in the previous
call or play to show that your adversary does not
hold the king guarded. The presumption, then,
is that he has the king guarded, and you should
lead the queen, in hopes of making the last trick.
These rules are liable to modification in conse-
quence of the state of the score. For example : —
Although the rule is to make sure of the cards,
nevertheless, when one point saves the rubicon,
or wins or saves the partie, you should risk the
cards for the sake of the last trick. Again : — If
you are elder hand and have the best of the partie,
and can ensure dividing the cards, you should
never risk the loss of them ; but, if the younger
hand has the best of the partie, it is often to your
interest, as elder, to risk the loss of the cards,
if, by so doing, you obtain a chance of winning
them.
For an instance of playing to divide the cards,
see Example XL, p. 189.
It often happens that you have the option, when
playing the cards, of making a certain number of
tricks off the reel, and of letting your opponent
score the remainder, or of changing the lead from
your hand to his, and vice versa, one or more
times. In either case, you win the same number
of tricks; but every time you part with the lead
PIQUET. 173
and regain it, each player scores one point in play
more than if the cards had been played without
changing the lead. Whether you should make
tricks straight off, or should play in and out, de-
pends on the score.
If you are less than a hundred, and are not
within your show (see p. 199), you should play
in and out. If you are within your show, and
your adversary is not, you should keep him back,
by refraining from playing in and out.
If you and your adversary are both over a
hundred, it is immaterial whether you play in
and out or not. If you play in and out, for
every extra point you score, your adversary does
the same; so there is then no advantage to either
side (see Examples XII. to XVI., pp. 190-196).
When you are near a pique, reckon up all
the winning cards you have in hand, to ascertain
whether you can make thirty before you lose the
lead. If you can do so, lead your winning cards
one after the other, without considering how many
of the remaining tricks you will lose.
There is one exception to this rule, owing to
the score. Suppose, in the sixth deal, the score
is such that, if the younger hand wins the cards,
he saves the rubicon. In this case, if the elder
hand can win the partie without the pique, and
can divide or win the cards by not leading his
winning cards immediately, but would lose the
cards by so doing, he should forego the pique
174 PIQUET.
in order to win a rubicon (^see Example XVII.,
p. 197).
It may also happen, but seldom, that similar
tactics should be resorted to in the fifth hand,
your adversary being very backward, and you
very forward, in the score.
In the last deal of a partie, if your adversary
has scored less than a hundred, your object should
be to prevent his reaching a hundred, and at the
same time to make him score as many as possible,
provided you can stop him short of a hundred.
You should endeavour to prevent his declaring
equalities ; and if you cannot win the cards your-
self, you should try to compel him to win them.
If, on the other hand, you see you cannot reach
a hundred, your object should be to score as little
as possible, to declare equalities, and to divide the
cards. If you see you cannot divide the cards, let
your adversary add thirteen (for the tricks), and
ten (for the cards), to his score. You thus avoid
scoring by in and out play, and score nothing,
it being understood that you are not piqued or
capoted in consequence {see p. 100 and Ex-
ample XIX., p. 201).
EXAMPLES.
In the following Examples both hands are
shown, for the sake of convenience. But only
one hand is known, viz., the one of which the
PIQUET.
175
discard is stated. All that is known of the ad-
verse hand is what is derived from calling, or
from cards already played, as assumed, for in-
stance, in Examples XII., XIII., and XIV.
The score is assumed to be love-all, unless
otherwise stated.
Example I.
Counting the haiid from the call of point.
A (Elder Hand).
B (YouNGEK Hand).
B has discarded seven of spades; and eight,
seven of diamonds.
A calls thirty-four for point, not good. The
only four-card point, making four, that A can
hold is in clubs {see Table, p. 155).
176
PIQUET.
A leads the diamonds, to which B follows suit. A
then leads ace, queen of spades ; B plays ten, king.
B should now lead ace and another heart, when
he must at least divide the cards.
If instead of leading the heart he leads the tierce
major in clubs, he loses the cards.
If B could not count four clubs in A's hand, he
would be right to attack in the tierce major suit
For this reason, and also because if B has a four-
card point it will most probably be in clubs, A
should have called thirty-one for point. In actual
practice, however, a four-card point is frequently
called under similar circumstances.
Example IL
Counting the hand, a trio not having been called.
A (Elder Hand).
B (Younger Hand).
PIQUET. 177
B has discarded eight, seven of spades; and
seven of hearts.
A calls a point in hearts, a quint and three
knaves, all good. He leads ace, queen, knave
of spades.
A's score, in hand and play, is now twenty-six.
He did not call three queens; and as these would
have given him a pique, it may be assumed he has
not got them.
To the spades, led by A, B therefore throws ten
of spades and two clubs.
A then leads a heart. B wins it, and attacks
in diamonds. However A plays, B must divide
the cards.
On the other hand, if A had called three queens,
B should have thrown the diamonds to the spades,
and have attacked in clubs. He assigns the ace
of diamonds to A as the card he is most likely to
have kept, in case he went out with, say, a quart
in hearts and three knaves. Under these circum-
stances it is more than probable that A has at least
one club out, when B, by attacking in clubs, will at
least divide the cards.
Experienced players may perhaps think that
Examples I. and H. are too elementary to be
of much use. It is, however, by considerations
similar to those here given, that even the best
players regulate their play in cases of greater
difficulty. Beginners are recommended to ob-
serve carefully the importance of counting the
hands [see p. 166).
N
178
PIQUET.
Example III.
Unguarding a king during the play, in hopes of
dividing the cards.
A (Elder Hand).
B (VouNGEK Hand).
B has discarded knave of spades; and eight,
seven of hearts.
A reckons five hearts for point, and a quart
major. He also calls three queens, which are
not good.
A leads the hearts. B plays ten of hearts, nine,
eight of spades (unguarding the king), and knave,
nine of clubs.
If A, now believing B to hold king, knave of
spades, leads a club or a diamond, and retains
PIQUET.
179
his tenace in spades to be led to, he only divides
the cards.
For remarks on unguarding, see p. 180.
Example IV.
Unguarding a king.
A (Elder Hand).
B (Younger Hand).
A has discarded eight, seven of spades; ten,
eight of hearts; and knave of diamonds.
A calls four cards, making forty-one, B re-
plies, '* Equal."
B reckons a quart major in spades, three aces,
and three knaves.
l8o PIQUET.
A leads four clubs, to which B plays three
clubs and a small heart.
A then leads king of hearts, won by B with
the ace.
B leads four spades. A plays nine, ten of
spades, and, without hesitation, eight, nine of
diamonds, unguarding the king.
B then leads a heart. A makes two tricks in
hearts, and divides the cards.
If it is B's habit to dash out an ace when he
has five tricks, in order to make certain of dividing
the cards, A's play is difificult.
A has probably asked whether three kings are
good; and, if B is attentive, he will most likely
count queen of hearts, and king, knave of dia-
monds in A"s hand, and will therefore lead a
heart. But if B is thoughtless, and does not
take the trouble to count the hands, he may
lead ace of diamonds in pursuance of his usual
tactics. The worse player B is, the less likely
is A's coup to succeed, and A must regulate his
play accordingly.
Unguarding a king (and sometimes even a
queen) during the play, if done without hesi-
tation, will more frequently succeed against a
high-class player than against an indifferent one.
Of course, loss of the cards should not be risked
by unguarding, unless the score renders it im-
perative to attempt to win them. Even then,
if opposed to a player who keeps the score in
view, the coup will hardly ever come off.
PIQUET.
l8l
Example V.
Lead of a 7tnnnt?ig card^ to preserve the tenace
in another suit.
A {Elder Hand).
B (Younger Hand).
B has discarded ten, eight of hearts ; and seven
of spades,
A declares a five-card point in spades, and four
queens.
A leads king of spades ; B wins the trick.
B leads ace, king, knave, ten of clubs; A plays
seven, queen of clubs, eight of diamonds, and
eight of spades.
If A plays queen of diamonds, and retains eight
of spades, he is immediately attacked in diamonds,
and loses the cards.
B can now read A's hand. It consists of three
I82
PIQUET.
spades, queen and another heart, and ace, queen
of diamonds. It is possible that A has put out
ace of diamonds to keep his four queens, and
that he has three hearts. B need not consider
this point, as then he must win the cards.
B now leads ace of hearts, that the lead may
not be put into his hand again. He next leads
knave of spades, when he must make a trick in
diamonds, and win the cards.
If B does not get rid of the ace of hearts, A,
after leading the spades, will give B the lead with
a heart, and B only divides the cards.
Example VI.
Leading winning cards, to preserve the tenace
in another suit.
A (Elder Hand).
m
B (Younger Hand).
PIQUET. 183
B has discarded nine, seven of spades; and
nine of diamonds.
A calls four cards for point, not good; a quart
major and a tierce to a knave, good; and three
kings, not good .
B reckons five clubs for point; three aces, and
three queens.
A leads a quart major in spades; B plays two
spades and two clubs.
A next leads knave of hearts. B wins with
queen, and leads ace, queen of clubs.
A wins the queen of clubs, and leads ten of
hearts. B wins the heart, and, whatever he plays,
must lose one trick in diamonds. Consequently,
the cards are divided.
If B plays properly, he wins the cards. After
winning with the queen of hearts, he should lead
ace, king of hearts. Then, after leading ace, queen
of clubs, he must be led up to in diamonds.
Of course, it is possible that A may hold a fourth
heart, or a double guard to his king of clubs. In
either of these cases, B can only divide the cards,
however he plays.
The beginner at Piquet should keep these
Examples (V. and VI.) well before him. Getting
rid of winning cards in order to avoid subse-
quent leads is frequently overlooked by those not
thoroughly versed in the game.
There is also the complementary case of re-
serving a losing card with which to place the
lead, illustrated by Examples VII. and VIII.
i84
PIQUET.
Example VII.
Keeping a losing card to throw the lead, in order
to preserve a tenace.
A (Elder Hand
B (Younger Hand).
A has discarded nine, eight of hearts; and
knave, nine, seven of diamonds.
A leads king of spades.
B wins it, and leads the diamonds.
To tliese, A should throw eight of diamonds,
and three small clubs. He should on no account
part with his ten of hearts.
B now leads king of hearts. A wms it, leads
the spades, and then the ten of hearts, to get
rid of the lead, when he divides the cards.
PIQUET.
1S5
If A throws ten of hearts to one of the dia-
monds, he will remain with three clubs, one of
which he must lead. He will then lose the cards.
Example VIII.
Keeping a small card to throto the lead, in order
io preserve a tefiace.
A (Elder Hand).
B (Younger Hand).
A has discarded knave, ten, eight of spades ;
and eight, seven of clubs.
A leads king of hearts.
B wins it, and leads the clubs.
To the four clubs led by B, A should play two
1 86
PIQUET.
clubs, one spade, and knave of diamonds, keep-
ing one small spade with which to get rid of the
lead.
B next leads king of spades. A wins it, and
leads the hearts, and then nine of spades. B must
now lead a diamond; A makes ace, queen of dia-
monds, and divides the cards.
If to the fourth club, A had thrown nine of
spades, he would have been obliged to continue
with a diamond, and would have lost the cards.
Example IX.
Leading the less numerous siiit.
A (Elder Hand).
B (Younger Hand).
PIQUET. 187
A has discarded nine, eight, seven of spades;
and eight, seven of hearts.
B has called three queens.
If B has both queen of hearts and queen
of clubs guarded, he must win the cards. A
should therefore play to find in which suit
B is unguarded. If he begins with the
club suit, of which he has five, and finds the
queen guarded, he cannot save the cards. He
should therefore attack in the three-card suit of
hearts.
If the queen falls to the second trick, he leads
the knave, and then any card except a club, and
divides the cards. If the queen of hearts does
not fall to the second trick, he then attacks in
clubs.
Similarly, A declares a six-card point, viz., ace,
queen, and four small cards. B is guarded in
that suit, and holds ace, queen, ten, and two small
cards of a second suit, and ace, queen, ten only
of a third. As soon as B obtains the lead, he
should play the ace of the suit of which he holds
only three. If the adversary is guarded in that
suit, he is probably unguarded in the other. If
he is found guarded, B then attacks in the other
in hopes of winning the cards. Should B begin
with the suit of which he holds five cards, and
find the adversary guarded, he has no chance of
the cards, but he has a chance by playing as
directed. If A is guarded in both suits B must
lose the cards.
PIQUE r.
Example X.
Leading i/tc less numerous suit. Playing to the score.
A (Elder Hand).
B (Younger Hand).
B has discarded seven of spades; and eight,
seven of diamonds.
A calls a six-card point in clubs, a tierce major
in spades, and four kings. His hand is known,
therefore, all but one card, and either the king
of hearts or of diamonds must be unguarded.
A leads tierce major in spades. B plays two
spades and eight of hearts. He must not part
with his nine of clubs.
A now leads king of clubs, which B wins.
B should lead the ace of diamonds, because
it is his less numerous suit. If the king falls,
he continues the diamonds, and then leads nine
of clubs, and divides the cards.
PIQUET.
If the king of diamonds does not fall to the
ace, B next leads hearts, and divides the cards.
If B leads ace of hearts, before the diamond,
and finds the king guarded, he loses the cards;
but if he finds the king of hearts unguarded, he
wins the cards. B's play may therefore depend
on the score. If winning the cards wins the
partie, or saves the rubicon, B should risk the
heart; if dividing the cards wins the partie, B
should lead the diamond. Or, if B is consider-
ably behind in the score, and winning the cards
brings him within his show, he should generally
lead the heart {see Example XL).
Example XL
Making sure of dividing the cards.
A (Elder Hand).
B (Younger Hand).
1 90 PIQUET.
B has discarded knave, ten of clubs ; and ten
of diamonds.
A declares five diamonds, and leads the king.
B wins the trick.
The probability is that A has gone for diamonds
and queens. It is not at all unlikely that he has
queen of spades or queen of hearts single.
B therefore leads ace of spades. A plays the
eight. B still makes an effort to win the cards,
and leads ace of hearts, to which A plays the seven.
B is quite in the dark as to the remaining
spades and hearts in A's hand. As it happens,
if B pursues the attack in hearts, he loses the
cards. On the other hand, if A has guards in
spades instead of in hearts, and B continues to
attack in spades, he also loses the cards.
Under these circumstances, B can make certain
of dividing the cards by now leading king of clubs.
If the score is such that he must play to win the
cards, he has no alternative but to continue his
attack at random in one or other of his ace, king
suits.
Example XII.
In and out play.
The last three cards in the leader's hand are
king, queen, ten of a suit, of which he can count
the adversary with ace, knave, and a small one.
The leader makes certain of three points in play
by leading the ten. If he leads king or queen,
PIQUET. 191
he only scores two, should his adversary refuse
to win the card first led.
In one case, the score in play is A, two; B, three.
In the other, it is A, three; B, four.
A's proper lead depends on the score {see
pp. 172, 173).
Again : — A has tierce major, and two small
spades ; and, king, queen of diamonds.
B has called four knaves and three aces.
A leads four of his spades. If knave of dia-
monds remains in B's hand, A makes seven in
play by next leading a diamond. But, if A leads
the fifth spade, and knave of diamonds is thrown
to it, he only scores six in play.
Example XIII.
In and out play.
A has, declared in his hand, ace, queen, knave
of spades; and king, ten of hearts.
B holds, ace, queen, knave of hearts; and king,
ten of spades.
It is the last hand of the partie. A, who is
ninety-five, leads the ace of spades, which makes
his total score ninety-six. A has already won three
tricks (excluding the ace of spades), and B four.
If B throws the king of spades to the ace, A
can only score to ninety-nine.
If B throws the ten to the ace, each player
makes one more point in play.
The card for B to play to the ace depends on
the score Thus: — If B requires four points to
192 PIQUET.
save the rubicon, he should play the ten to
the ace.
Example XIV.
Li and out play.
A has, declared in his hand, ace, queen, knave
of spades ; ten of hearts ; ace, nine of clubs.
B holds, king, ten of spades; knave, nine of
hearts; king, queen of clubs.
A can count B's hand, and knows him to be
singly guarded in both spades and clubs.
If A leads ace, queen of spades, he will score
five in play, and B will score four.
The result will be the same if A leads ace, nine
of clubs.
If A leads ten of hearts, he scores six in play,
and B five. The number of tricks won by A
will be the same in either case, viz., three.
After what has already been said, it will be
clear that A's lead depends on the score.
Say it is the fifth hand of the partie, and
that A is under a rubicon. He should lead
the heart.
Or, to take an extreme case, it is the last hand,
and A's score (including what he has already
made in the hand) is ninety-four. If he does
not lead the heart, he is rubiconed.
On the other hand, if A is well ahead, and
his game is to keep B back, he should not lead
the heart.
PIQUET.
193
Example XV.
In and out play.
A (Elder Hand).
B (Younger Hand).
B has discarded eight of spades; and eight,
seven of diamonds.
A scores seventeen in hand (point in spades,
tierces in spades and hearts, three queens, and
three tens).
He must win the cards, and he requires, in
addition, ten in play to get out of the rubicon.
All the cards in his hand, except two, are
known from the call. It is highly improbable
that he has put out both ace and king of dia-
monds, especially as he does not reckon the ten
of clubs. Therefore, it may be assumed that he
o
194
PIQUET.
has at most two clubs. In that case, he cannot
make more than nine in play, if B plays properly.
A leads the spades. To these, B plays two
spades and three diamonds. A then leads three
diamonds, and any other card, and only scores
nine in play. B scores five in play.
On the other hand, if B requires six to save
his rubicon, he should keep the diamonds guarded,
and should throw to the spades, two spades, a
heart, and two clubs. If then he leads a diamond
when he gets in, he scores one more in play. A
scores two more in play; but B has succeeded in
saving the rubicon.
Example XVI.
In and out play.
A (Elder Hand).
B (Younger Han-c).
PIQUET. 195
A has discarded nine, eight of spades ; nine,
eight of clubs ; and ten of diamonds.
It is the sixth hand of the partie. A has only
four aces good, which bring his score to seventy-
seven. He wins the cards, and has to reckon
thirteen in play to save the rubicon.
B's point is in hearts. A can score thirteen
by in and out play, unless B has three diamonds,
and attacks in that suit. Even if B has three
diamonds, it is unlikely he will lead them until
obliged, as he may find A with ace, queen, ten
of the suit.
A leads seven of hearts ; B plays the nine.
If, instead of the seven, A leads ace, king of
hearts, as he probably would in an ordinary
hand, he cannot reckon thirteen in play.
B leads anything — say, queen of hearts. A
wins with the king, and leads ace, eight of hearts.
It is compulsory on A to lead eight of hearts
after the ace.
B wins the eight of hearts, and next leads a
club, which A wins.
A's best lead is now seven of spades. B wins
with the ten, and continues the club. A wins
it, and must return the seven of clubs.
If B now leads a spade, A wins it, returns the
spade, and then leads queen of diamonds. Or,
if, instead of a spade, B leads a diamond, A wins
it, and leads ace, queen of spades, and makes the
last trick with a diamond.
The reason A leads seven of spades, at the
o 2
196 PIQUET.
sixth trick, instead of going on with the club
suit, is now apparent. Suppose all the hearts
and clubs played, and that A remains with ace,
queen, seven of spades, and ace, queen of dia-
monds. B has king, knave, ten of spades, and
king, knave of diamonds, and it is B's lead. B
leads a diamond, won by A. A leads seven of
spades, won by B, who again leads a diamond,
won by A.
Now A remains with ace, queen of spades, and
is in a dilemma. He cannot tell whether B has
two spades left, or a spade and a diamond. If
then A leads ace of spades, on the speculation
that B has one spade and one diamond (the
probable case), he fails to score thirteen in play.
By leading the seven of spades at an earlier period
of the hand, as directed, A avoids being thus put
to a lead.
At some scores, A's play would be very bad.
As played, A reckons thirteen and B ten. By
leading three aces and two kings, and any other
card (keeping ace, queen of diamonds), A makes
the same number of tricks, but the scores in play
are, A, nine ; B, six ; a difference of four to each
player. Suppose then B were ninety-three after
counting his hand, and A any higher score, A
should not play in and out.
Or, suppose it is the fifth hand of the partie,
and that A can reach the score of eighty-six,
by playing in and out. He should play to get
within his show {see p. 173).
PIQUET.
197
Example XVII.
Playing to the score, and foregoing a pique.
A (Elder Hand).
B (Younger Hand).
It is the last hand of the partie. A has dis-
carded knave, eight, seven of clubs ; and ten,
eight of diamonds.
A's score is seventy; B's score is eighty-two.
A has a pique, good against the cards, if, after
reckoning his point, quint, and three aces, he
leads his aces and kings, and then any other
card.
If A plays in this way, he scores sixty, and
his total score is a hundred and thirty. B scores
eight in play, and ten for the cards, and his total
198 PIQUET.
score is a hundred. B saves the rubicon, and
A wins a partie of a hundred and thirty.
But, if A foregoes the pique, and leads ace
and another heart, he must divide the cards, what-
ever B has discarded. A then wins a rubicon.
Played in this way, with the hands given above,
A scores twenty-four in hand, two in play (for ace,
queen of hearts), and six for the last five tricks
(in all thirty-two), and the cards are divided.
B scores seven in play (this he must reckon
in order to divide the cards).
The scores will then be. A, a hundred and two;
B, eighty-nine. A wins a rubicon of two hundred
and ninety-one.
By foregoing the pique, A gains a hundred and
sixty-one points.
In order to avoid complicating the case with
other considerations, the question of A's best
play has hitherto been neglected. It will be
seen that A can still make sure of dividing the
cards if he leads the ace of spades before at-
tacking in hearts. And, he may find B un-
guarded in spades. In that event, he wins a
pique and the cards. If the queen of spades
does not fall to the ace, A should then change
to the heart suit, leading ace and queen as above
advised. In other words, A should not thought-
lessly throw away a chance of a pique, because
he sees he can certainly win a rubicon by fore-
going it.
PIQUET.
199
Example XVIII.
Flaying to the score, afid sinking point and quatorze
to win a capot.
A (Elder Hand
B (Younger Hand).
It is the sixth hand of the partie. The scores
are, A, forty-three ; B, ninety.
A has discarded eight, seven of spades; ten,
seven of hearts ; and nine of diamonds.
If A's point of thirty-nine in clubs is good, B
must be out in spades, and A scores a repique.
If B is out in spades, A can equally win a
repique by calling a point of thirty-eight in dia-
monds. In either case B is rubiconed.
200 PIQUET.
On the other hand, if B has his quart in
spades, there is no repique. A's resource, then,
is a capot, and this he can win if B is unguarded
in clubs.
But A may possibly capot his adversary, even
if guarded in clubs, by inducing him to believe
that clubs are out, elder hand. If A calls thirty-
nine for point, it is evident that the point is in
clubs, and B will keep himself guarded in that
suit. A's object, therefore, should be to conceal
the fact that he holds four clubs, and A should
call thirty-eight in diamonds. It has already been
shown that, if B has four spades, this call can only
injure A to the extent of four points, a matter not
worth considering as against the chance of a capot
B replies, "Not good." He therefore has a
quart in spades.
A, in pursuance of his tactics, calls four kings
and three aces (not reckoning the ace of clubs).
A leads his four diamonds. To three of the
diamonds B plays nine of spades, eight of hearts,
and seven of clubs. B has now to play one other
card. If he believes the ace of clubs to be out,
he will naturally throw the nine of clubs. If he
does so, he is capoted.
The scores will then be : — A, seventeen in hand,
thirteen in play, and forty for the cards and capot;
total, seventy. This, added to his former score of
forty-three, makes him a hundred and thirteen.
B scores eight, making him ninety-eight. A wins
a rubicon of three hundred and eleven.
PIQUET.
20I
Example XIX,
Playing to score as little as possible, and to
divide the cards.
A (Elder Hand).
B (Younger Hand).
It is the sixth hand of the partie. A has dis-
carded nine, eight of hearts; and queen, nine,
eight of dubs.
B's score is fifty.
A's first care should be to see whether B can
possibly make fifty, which saves the rubicon.
Whatever he has discarded, he cannot score more
than forty-seven.
If A calls, " Forty-eight " in diamonds, B will
reply, " Equal," and will declare forty-eight in
hearts, his object being to declare equalities. A
202 PIQUET.
should call twenty-nine for point, which compels
a score. B should allow this to be good.
A should then call a quart to a knave. B
should say, " Not good," as, if he admits it,
A also reckons a tierce in diamonds.
A then calls three tens, which B, in order to
conceal his hand, allows to be good.
A leads ace of clubs, that he may not risk
being put to a card; and, as he cannot win the
cards, should try to lose them. A next leads king
of diamonds.
It is now B's turn. He has discarded seven
of spades; knave of clubs; and nine of diamonds.
In order to reckon as little as possible, he only
calls a quart in hearts.
B wins A's diamond; and, if he plays properly,
can divide the cards.
B leads tierce major in spades, four tricks; ace,
king of hearts, six tricks. To the hearts A plays
king of clubs and ten of diamonds, endeavouring
to lose the cards if B holds knave of clubs or nine
of diamonds.
B now leads seven of diamonds. A wins it
with the knave; and, as he has only winning
cards in his hand, the cards are divided.
If A had continued with a second club after
the ace, B should have thrown the ten of hearts,
as seven of hearts and seven of diamonds, if kept
in hand, may enable B, after winning six tricks,
to get rid of the lead when A remains with only
winning cards.
PIQUET.
203
ODDS AT PIQUET.
THE SHOW.
The Shozv, elder hand (when small cards are
counted in play), is twenty-eight ; younger hand is
fourteen. That is, it is about an even chance the
elder hand will score twenty-eight or more, and
that the younger hand will score fourteen or more.
The above results have been obtained empiri-
cally thus : —
In 10,000 hands —
The Elder Hand scored
28 or more 27 or less
Times
5129 4S71
It is therefore slightly in favour of a score of at
least twenty-eight, elder hand.
In 10,000 hands —
The Younger Hand scored
14 or more
13 or less
Times
4997
5003
204
PIQUET.
This gives fourteen as the show, younger hand.
The show, when small cards are not counted
in play (as was formerly the case), is twenty-seven
elder hand and thirteen younger hand. It is not
known how this result was arrived at. It is be-
lieved that it can only be obtained by the laborious
method of keeping statistics of a large number of
hands, as has now been done for the rubicon
game, in which small cards are counted in play.
ODDS AT VARIOUS SCORES.
The odds at various scores may be deduced
approximately from the following tables : —
In 10,000 Hands, the Elder Hand scored
Under 10
Between 10 and
20
30
40
50
60
70
So
90
100
110
120
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
no
120
130
140
140 ,, 150
150 or more
977 tir
1743
2S67
2105
902
76
166
664
106
20
88
210
40
16
PIQUET.
205
In 10,000 Hands, the Younger Hand scored
Under
10 ..
n 10
Betwee
and
20
20
30
30
40
40
50
50
60
60
70
70
80
80
90
90
100
100
no
no
120
120
130
130
140
140
150
150
or more
3556 times*
2560
2317
944
423
35
13
21
5
28
52
38
7
To Work the Tables. — Add together all the
hands which score less than the amount required ;
and separately add together all the hands which
score the number required or more. The sum
of the one, as against that of the other, will give
the required odds approximately.
Examples. — -(i). It is the last hand of a partie.
The elder hand is 90. Required the odds in
favour of his saving the rubicon.
The odds are 9023 to 977, or nearly 9^ to i
that he will score 10 or more.
Of these, 102 limes he scored o.
2o6 PIQUET.
(2). Required the odds that the elder hand will
score at least 20.
The odds are 7280 to 2720, or about 8 to 3
in his favour.
(3). It is known to be an even chance that the
elder hand will score 28 or more. It is therefore
slightly against his scoring at least 30. The tables
give 5587 to 4413, or about 5 to 4 against.
(4). The odds against the elder hand scoring
40 or more are, according to the tables, 7692 to
2308, or about 10 to 3.
(5). It is the last hand of the partie. The elder
hand is 140 points behind. Required the odds
against the elder hand's winning the partie.
The odds given by the table are 9966 to 34,
or 293 to I. The elder hand must get a repique
and capot to win. In a few cases, the younger
hand may score a quatorze, when he may win, not-
withstanding the elder hand's repique and capot.
Making a full allowance for this contingency, the
odds are about 290 to i.
(6). In less desperate cases, the calculation of
the odds becomes rather more complicated, as the
consideration of the score made by the younger
hand has to be taken into account. Thus : — It
is required to find the odds that the elder hand
will score 90 more than the younger.
This cannot be discovered from the tables; but
it may be approximated to as follows : —
Including the cases in which the elder scores
between 90 and 100, the odds against him are
PIQUET. 207
about 24^^ to I. Excluding these cases, the odds
are about 25 to i. It may be concluded that the
odds against the elder hand are nearer to 25 to i
than 24 to I.
As the odds against a repique are 27^ to i,
and as an elder hand repique does not necessarily
score 90 more than the younger, it might be argued
that the odds should be more than 25 to i. But
more than 90 may be scored without a repique,
as by pique and capot. And, on looking at the
table, it will be seen that the elder hand scores
over 100 more than eighteen times as often as he
scores between 90 and 100. Hence it would seem
that the odds of 25 to i are not far from the mark.
(7). Required the odds that the younger hand
will save the rubicon, he being 90, last hand of
a partie.
The odds are 6444 to 3556, or 9 to 5 in his favour.
(8). The younger hand wanting 20 to save the
rubicon, the odds against him are 61 16 to 3S84,
or about 13 to 8.
NEGLECTED VARIATIONS.
The tables necessarily neglect variations which
may arise in consequence of discarding and play-
ing to the score, the great majority of the recorded
hands having been played without reference to
these considerations, and all hands having been
omitted in which a player, finding his game hope-
less, has played to divide the cards, or to score
as little as possible.
2o8 PIQUET.
The odds found by the tables can only be re-
garded as approximate odds, and as less than the
true odds against a player who has to gain a point
for which he especially strives. For instance : — ■
The elder hand wanting 29 to get out, and seeing
it on the cards to make that number, might dis-
card, or play the cards, accordingly. On the other
hand, the odds may be more than the true odds
against a player who has the partie well in hand,
and who is only scheming to keep his adversary
back, as, e.g.^ when the elder hand sacrifices a
pique in order to win or to divide the cards.
ODDS IRRESPECTIVE OF THE TABLES.
It is about 5 to 3 on the elder hand for the
cards ; nearly 3 to i against the younger hand's
winning the cards ; and a trifle over 7 to i against
the cards being divided.
The odds against a rubicon are about 7 to 2.
The odds against a named player being rubi-
coned are, therefore, 8 to i.
A partie averages two hundred points.
The odds against a repique elder hand are
nearly 27^ to i; against a younger hand re-
pique, about 75 to I.
The odds against a pique (which of course in-
cludes a repique) are rather more than 7 to i
(about 36 to 5).
The odds against a carte blanche in a named
player's hand are 1791 to i.
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Printed on highly-finished Enamelled Cardboard, with Rules of the Game.
A CHEAPER ISSUE, PRICE SIXPENCE,
CONTAINING HALF THE ABOVE QUANTITY OF LETTERS.
PUBLISHED BY THOS. DE LA RUE & CO., LONDON,
AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS AND STATIONERS.
DE LA RUE'S
INDELIBLE DIARIES
AND RED-LETTER CALENDARS.
POCKET DIARIES.
Dk La Rue's Imfkoved Indki.ible Diaries A^D Memobahduh Books, in four
sizes, iu a ^reat variety of biniiiD}i;s.
A size, 34 by 1} in. B sue. 35 by ii in- C size. -IJ by ii in. D size, 53 by 3J in.
CONDENSED DIARIES AND ENGAGEMENT BOOKS,
In tbree sizes (A, B, & C, as above), in a sreat variety of bindings.
PORTABLE DIARIES.
B size, 33 by 2J in. D size, 53 by 3J in.
Thin, light, and flexible, in a variety of leather cases. Adapted for the Pocket.
HALF-CROWN DIARY.
De La Rue's Improved Diabt amd Memoramdum Book; for Library or
Countins-house use. E size, 71 by 43 inches.
POCKET CALENDARS.
Uk La Rue's Red-Letter Calendars ani> .\lmakacs, in two sizes (A Si B.
as above), suitable for the Card Case or Purse,
"FINGER-SHAPED" DIARIES.
Id elegant sliding cases, extra gilt. Adapted for the Pocket or Reticule.
"THUMB-SHAPED" DIARIES.
In elegant sliding cases, extra gilt.
"PALM-SHAPED" DIARIES.
In elegant sliding cases, extra gilt.
WALL. TABLET, OR EASEL CALENDARS.
The "NOTA BENE" STYLOGRAPH
(PATENTED)
Is ready for Instant Use. May be
carried in any position without
fear of leakage. Holds a
Large Supply of Ink.
In Polished Vulcanite,
Handsomely Enchased.
With Needle, Spring, and
Nozzle, made of the Precious Metals.
MAY BE HAD OF ALL STATIONERS.
"PELICAN" SELF-FEEDING PEN
10/6
In Polished Vulcanite,
Handsomely Enchased.
Fitted with a Barrel Pen of
Special Construction,
in 14-carat Gold, Iridium-Pointed
(PATENTED)
Writes Instantly and Continuously.
Has Extra Large Reservoir of Ink.
Secure against Leakage.
Flow of Ink to the Pen
can be regulated with
the greatest nicety.
10/6
"SWIFT" RESERVOIR PENHOLDER
3/6
(PATENTED)
S«0?^l^^i
3/6
Holds a large supply of Ink; ready for instant use.
The construction of the Holder affords absolute security against
leakage, and preserves the Ink for any length of time. Cannot
corrode or get out of order, heing made entirely of hard
vulcanite.
Fitted vrith Iridinm-Pointed \on-Corrodible Pen . , . , 3s. 6d.
n Union Gold Fen, Iridium-Pointed ,....,,...,,,,, 58. 64
It Superior n n , , lOs. 6d.
« U-Carat » . and Gilt Mounts 128. 6d.
Refills: — Iridinm-Point«d Gold Pens, 2s. 6d. eath; ditto. Best Quality, 58. and Ts. 6i
"Swift" Non-Corrodible Iridium-Pointed Pens, 6d. tick
Wholesale only of the Sole Manufacturers,
THOS. DE LA RUE & CO., BunliillEow, LONDON, E.G.
THE "ORB"
GOLD-COIITED ftClD-RESISTINE PENS.
FINE, MEDIUM, BROAD, AND EXTRA BROAD.
containing
One Dozen,
1/-
GOLD-COATED
|g.U3m.!.M:4ca| P E N S
Card holding
>^ -Dozen,
Assort*. Points
6d.
These Pens are made of a Non- Rusting Alloy, Plated with Real
Gold, and possess excellent Writing Qualities.
THE "ORB"
CONSW SERVICE FOUmiN PENHOLDER
(PATENTED)
n IQ IN FINELY POLISHED rt //>
u/yj HARD VULCANITE. u/U
CARRYING AN ACID-RESISTING NIB, GOLD-COATED.
SPECIAL ADVANTAGES:—
Carries an unusually larg-e quantity of Ink.
Does not require any adjustment before use.
Pen-nibs of an inexpensive character may be used, and
can be easily replaced.
When empty, may be dipped and used as an ordinary Pen.
MAY BE HAD OF ALL STATIONERS.
ir/iolesale only of the Sole Manufacturers,
THOS. DE LA RUE & CO., Bunhill Row, London, E.G.
MAY BE HAD OP ALL STATIONERS.
ISOBATH" CONSTANT- LEIEL INCTND
(PATENTED)
AUTOMATIC IN ACTION.
SECURING UNEQUALLED ADVANTAGES.
Adapted for
all Countries
and
all Climates.
Made in
a variety of
useful and
ornamental
SECTION, SHOWING CONSTRUCTION forms.
The Float is so weighted and poised as always to keep the Ink on the same
level, whatever quantity may be contained in the Keservoir. The Mechanism cannot
get out of order, as all the materials used are entirely unaffected by Ink.
Has a lar^e Reservoir of Ink, enclosed from dust and evaporation, and a small
Dinping-Well in which the Ink is always maintained at the same level.
The Ike is .\lwav3 Ready; Always op the Right DEriB for dipping;
Always Fbesh and Cleab for use.
PRICES from 2/6 to 45/-
THE PATENT
CONSTANT-LEVEL
"ISOBATH"
MUCILAGE
JAR.
Fitted with Brush and Cap, complete, Price 6/-
THE PATENT "ISOBATH"
CONSTANT-LEVEL STAMP & ENVELOPE DAMPER.
PRICE 10/6
^2 ilocai 'gctUvs patent.
THE *'CAVENDISH" WHIST MARKER.
THE "CAVENDISH" PiaUET MARKER.
THE "CAVENDISH" BEZiaUE MARKER.
THE
Price One Shilling and Sixpence.
SIMPLEX" POCKET WHIST CASE.
This Case is constracted with Markers recessed in the back, and contains i
Pacli of superior Playing Cards and a Card of Whist Rules.
MAY BE HAD OF ALL STATIONERS.
PATENT REVERSIBLE PEN-CLEANER
SOLE LICENSEES: THOS. DE LA RUE & CO.
Prices from s.ze,44x34inche.. Iif Reversible Pads
1 /- each. ^^^^^.^Mk 2(1. each.
The Pen, when not in use, should be thrust into the Fad perpendicularly, a*
shown in the cut. The Pad may be reversed, when soiled from long use, by pushing
it out from the bottom. When the base is screwed to a desk, for Public use, the Pad
may be prized out readily from the lop. Can also be used as a Pin-cushioo.
W/wiesale only of the Sole Mami/acturers^
THOS. DE LA RUE & CO., Bunhill Row, LONDON.
RANSOME'S PATENT
POCKET INKSTANDS.
These compact and convenient Inkstands are sold in the four sizes given
below, and will be found very suitable for the Pocket or Travelling Bag.
Their constmction secures them from leakage
and from the liability to be upset wlien in use.
^ OPEN
^p
SHUT
Metal Frame
... Size, 2i X 14 in.
. 6b.
Od.
Polished Walnut Frame
, 2| X 1| ,
6s.
Od.
, ,
... , 2J X 2i ,
7b.
ed.
.:::...:;;.
,. 3| X 2f .
10b.
6d.
Wholesale only of the Sole Agents,
THOS. DE LA RUE & CO., LONDON.
mvy. Of CALiF. LiBRARY« LOS ANGEUi
L 005 119 643 4
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